Talk:Mandibular fracture

Clinics of North America
I've put in several references from Clinics of North America. Even though these are listed in pubmed, I think they're more akin to secondary sources. Edited, mini-books on a particular subject. Ian Furst (talk) 15:20, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Proposed merge
A merge has been proposed (not by this user) between Flail mandible and this article. Opinions? This article has a very well-reading structure and I don't want to disturb it by simply transposing the content. Would value the opinion of an editor of this article, so, Ping! . Kind regards, LT910001 (talk) 23:20, 18 October 2013 (UTC)


 * ✅. Not a common term as far as I am aware. Added a line about guardsman fractures which sounds like a similar injury. Lesion  ( talk ) 23:56, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Just saw this; flail mandible typically refers to a swinging mandible with bilateral fractures - the danger being that the genioglossus is unsupported and the tongue falls back blocking the airway (I've only seen it twice but when it happens its scary because the patient obstructs and you need to secure the airway quickly). The most common use of the term would be with a bilateral edentulous mandible fracture (aka bucket handle fracture) but it could apply to any fracture with multiple sites (e.g. the flail segment is the free floating segment).

This is what we say currently about flail mandible:

"Bilateral subcondylar fractures are sometimes termed 'flail mandible', and can cause involuntary posterior movement of the tongue with subsequent obstruction of the upper airway." I hadn't heard of "flail mandible" before. I had heard of "bucket handle" fracture though and I note we have no mention of this currently (see below for suggested addition). I also note that according to Banks, a bucket handle is a bilateral body fracture of an edentulous mandible, whilst the content above about flail mandible talks about bilateral subcondylar fractures and does not mention edentulism. I feel that "flail mandible" is closer to "guardsman's fracture" (bilat. subcondylar + symphysis) than bucket handle, but I am not sure if these terms are rigidly applied according to these descriptions. Lesion ( talk ) 00:08, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

"A 'bucket handle' fracture refers to a bilateral body fracture of a thin, edentulous mandible, usually in an elderly individual, and in which downwards and backwards displacement of the middle portion occurs due to the pull of the mylohyoid and digastric muscles. This displacement can compress the airway and cause respiratory distress."
 * not a term I normally use, let me send out an email to other surgeons and see what they say.Ian Furst (talk) 19:22, 2 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It might be a regional thing... I never heard Flail mandible before. Lesion  ( talk ) 19:36, 2 November 2013 (UTC)