Department of Plastic Surgery, Regional Hospital, Cork, Ireland.
In a 1 year period (1993) 332 facial fractures were treated in Cork Regional Hospital. Of these 110 (33%) were sports related. Males accounted for 94.5% of patients and 77% of patients were aged below 30 years. Nasal fractures were the most common fractures seen (56%). Almost half (49%) of sports related facial fractures occurred while playing Gaelic games. The incidence of hurling fractures has been more than halved over the last 20 years. Seventy eight percent of patients required operative treatment.