Clinical signs of orbital wall fractures as a function of anatomic location.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to see whether clinical signs of medial orbital wall fractures distinguished these fractures from fractures of the lateral orbital wall and the orbital floor.


METHODS
The orbital fractures of 424 patients were analyzed. The patients were divided into 2 groups: (1) patients with orbital fractures with a medial orbital wall component and (2) patients with orbital fractures without a medial orbital wall component.


RESULTS
Orbital fractures with involvement of the medial orbital wall showed a significantly higher incidence (P =.001) of diplopia and exophthalmos (P =.039) than fractures without involvement of the medial wall.


CONCLUSIONS
Posttraumatic orbital clinical signs are associated with a higher incidence of medial orbital wall component fracture. Apparent lack of involvement of the medial orbital wall should not be an exclusion criterion for a surgical intervention when clinical orbital signs exist.
Jank
Siegfried
S
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Innsbruck, Austria. siegfried.jank@gmx.de
Schuchter
Barbara
B
Emshoff
Rüdiger
R
Strobl
Heinrich
H
Koehler
Julius
J
Nicasi
Alessandro
A
Norer
Burghard
B
Baldissera
Ivo
I
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004172:Diplopia / Q000209:etiology; D015841:Enophthalmos / Q000209:etiology; D005004:Ethmoid Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D005094:Exophthalmos / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D009915:Orbit / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D009917:Orbital Fractures / Q000145:classification* / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015050:Zygoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries