title: [Case report: a traumatic facial paralysis caused by a fish].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Due to the increase in worldwide tourism more and more unusual injuries are observed.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report on a patient who was diving near the Maledives, where a fish weighing 30 kg collided with his head. Four to five hours later he suffered from paralysis of the facial nerve. During an operation performed after his return a part of the jaw of the fish was removed from the retromandibular fossa. The fish jaw had compressed the facial nerve.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three months later the function of the nerve was normal again.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even simple accidents require a detailed patient history and the use of computed tomography. This made it possible to determine the cause of this unusual facial paralysis and cure the patient.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für HNO-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie der Dr. Horst-Schmidt-Kliniken Wiesbaden.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zwisler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beigel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D004242:Diving / Q000293:injuries*; D020220:Facial Nerve Injuries; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005399:Fishes; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery
vernacular_title: Kasuistik: Eine traumatische Fazialisparese durch einen Fisch.