Conclusions: Orbital floor strength is regained 24 days after repair. The authors now let patients resume normal activities
approximately 3 weeks
after uncomplicated orbital floor fracture repair. This is one of many clinical factors in assessing the return to normal activities.
Can a orbital fracture heal on its own?
Some orbital wall
fractures heal on their own
, while others require surgery. Your doctor will discuss which treatment is right for you. Two types of surgery are used for orbital wall fractures: Traditional surgery, which requires an open incision.
How serious is an orbital fracture?
These fractures may be
asymptomatic
and can be observed or cause problems with double vision, or a change in the position of the eyeball, and require surgical repair.
Can I exercise with an orbital fracture?
Rest –
Your doctor will instruct you to avoid any strenuous exercise
, and will instruct you to not forcefully blow your nose after the fracture has been diagnosed. This is to prevent air from the sinuses around the eye from going under the skin and causing swelling and more discomfort.
How long does a facial fracture take to heal?
They will heal themselves over
3-6 weeks
. want to bring the broken bones back into a normal alignment (called ‘reducing’ the fracture) and keep it/them in this place (called ‘fixing the fracture’), preventing further injury. Sometimes they will need to operate to do this.
What does an orbital fracture feel like?
Ocular or orbital injury types
Patients with ocular or orbital injuries may present with
pain in and around the orbit, bruising, swelling, bleeding from lacerations
, and facial numbness, and may complain of changes in vision. These injuries may require only observation or surgery spanning from simple to complex.
How do you fix a orbital fracture?
Repair of orbital fractures is accomplished through
small incisions on the inside of the eyelids and placement of an orbital implant
(typically a very thin sheet of plastic, high-density porous polyethylene) to cover the fracture.
What happens when you fracture your orbital bone?
Indirect orbital floor fracture (“blowout fracture”) — This occurs
when the bony rim of the eye remains intact, but the paper thin floor of the eye socket cracks or ruptures
. This can cause a small hole in the floor of the eye socket that can trap parts of the eye muscles and surrounding structures.
What happens when you have an orbital fracture?
Changes in vision
— An orbital fracture may cause double vision. Eyeball changes— Changes might include blood in the white part of the eye, difficult or decreased eye movement or sunken eyeballs, Facial numbness — Nerve damage in and around the fracture can lead to numbness that may be temporary or permanent.
How common is an orbital fracture?
Fractures of the orbital floor are common: it is estimated that
about 10% of all facial fractures are isolated orbital wall fractures
(the majority of these being the orbital floor), and that 30-40% of all facial fractures involve the orbit. The anatomy of the orbital floor predisposes it to fracture.
Is an orbital fracture a medical emergency?
Orbital fractures are a common,
potentially vision-threatening presentation to an emergency department
. Appropriate early management and referral by the emergency medicine practitioner has a significant role in preventing cosmetic and functional sequelae of orbital trauma.
What signs and symptoms may be seen with an orbital floor fracture?
- History of eye trauma.
- Pain upon looking up and down.
- Tenderness.
- Sunken eye.
- Double vision.
- Severe eyelid and facial swelling.
- Numbness of the upper cheek and gum.
- Severe redness around the white part of the eye.
How long does numbness last after an orbital fracture?
Numbness of these areas frequently occurs with orbital floor fractures. This is not a visible finding, but it can be somewhat of a nuisance. This numbness (infraorbital nerve hypesthesia) frequently resolves over
4-6 months
.
How long does it take for a fractured cheekbone to heal?
Even if a fracture is held in place with plates and screws it still takes
approximately six weeks
for your cheekbone to heal completely. During this recovery period, you will need to be careful to avoid an injury to this area of your face, as it may cause the cheekbone to move out of position.
What is a left orbital fracture?
An orbital fracture is when
there is a break in one of the bones surrounding the eyeball
(called the orbit, or eye socket). Usually this kind of injury is caused by blunt force trauma, when something hits the eye very hard.
What is maxillofacial trauma?
Maxillofacial trauma is
any injury to the face or jaws
. Facial trauma may present with skin lacerations, burns, obstruction to the nasal cavity or sinuses, damage to the orbital (eye) sockets, fracture to the jawbone, and missing or broken teeth.
How many orbital bones are there?
The orbit, which protects, supports, and maximizes the function of the eye, is shaped like a quadrilateral pyramid, with its base in plane with the orbital rim.
Seven bones
conjoin to form the orbital structure, as shown in the image below.
Which bone of the orbit is most likely to fracture with blunt orbital trauma?
The orbital floor, the maxillary bone
, is the most common orbital fracture. These floor-fractures are quite common.
When should you go to the ER for an eye injury?
We recommend seeking immediate medical attention
anytime you experience swelling, redness, or pain in your eye
, especially if it occurs after an injury or having a foreign object or chemical in your eye. When left untreated, these injuries can damage your eye even more, leading to partial and/or permanent blindness.
Who treats orbital fracture?
For the isolated orbital fractures,
the ophthalmologist
is well equipped to diagnose and treat these injuries. In the setting of more complex fractures, a multidisciplinary approach may be necessary. However, the ophthalmologist should take the lead as the guardian of ocular function.
How are facial fractures treated?
The usual treatment for facial fractures involves two steps,
reduction or “setting of the bone” and fixation
. Reduction involves restoring broken pieces to their proper position. In many cases of facial fracture, reduction can be accomplished several days after the injury, once the swelling has subsided.
When do orbital fractures need surgery?
Indications for surgery are enophthalmos (>2 mm), ocular motility dysfunction, and persistent diplopia in primary gaze or reading position, CT findings of ocular muscle impingement and
over 50% of floor involvement
, progressive V2 hypesthesia, and abnormal forced duction testing.
Which part of the orbit is the weakest?
The weakest portion of the orbit is
the thin orbital floor (maxilla)
and the lamina papyracea (ethmoid bone) medially and inferiorly.
What is blowout fracture?
A blowout fracture is
a break of one or more of the bones that surround the eye
. When an object strikes the eye, the force is transmitted into the eye compartment (orbit) [see figure 1], and the thinnest bones within the orbit will buckle or break from the force of the trauma.
What is orbit of the eye?
The orbit is
the bony cavity in the skull that houses the globe of the eye (eyeball)
, the muscles that move the eye (the extraocular muscles), the lacrimal gland, and the blood vessels and nerves required to supply these structures.
How are orbital floor fractures treated?
Most orbital floor defects can be repaired with
synthetic implants composed of porous polyethylene, silicone, metallic rigid miniplates, Vicryl mesh, resorbable materials
, or metallic mesh. Autogenous bone from the maxillary wall or the calvaria can be used, as can nasal septum or conchal cartilage.
What happens when you fall on your face?
You can get
a bruise
on your face if you fall or if something hits you in the face. The medical term for a bruise is “contusion.” Small blood vessels get torn and leak blood under the skin. Most people think of a bruise as a black-and-blue spot. But bones and muscles can also get bruised.
Do all cheekbone fractures need surgery?
Once it has determined the cheekbone is broken the surgeon will decide if surgery is needed. Sometimes depending on the situation, such as if the cheekbone fracture is stable,
no surgery is recommended
. But, it will be advised if it affects the daily function of the patient or causes a cosmetic defect.
What is the most common type of facial fracture?
Nasal bones (broken nose): Nasal bone fractures
are the most common type of facial fracture. The nasal bone is made up of two thin bones. It takes less force to break the nasal bones than other facial bones because they are thin and prominent.
What is the orbital floor fracture?
Orbital floor fractures may result when
a blunt object
, which is of equal or greater diameter than the orbital aperture, strikes the eye. The globe usually does not rupture, and the resultant force is transmitted throughout the orbit causing a fracture of the orbital floor.
