What are the signs and symptoms of an orbital fracture?

What are the signs and symptoms of an orbital fracture?

What Are Orbital Fracture Symptoms?

• blurry, decreased or double vision.
• black and blue bruising around the eyes.
• swelling of the forehead or cheek.
• swollen skin under the eye.
• numbness in the injured side of the face.
• blood in the white part of the eye.
• difficulty moving the eye to look left, right, up or down.
• flattened cheek.

What are orbital injuries?

Orbital Fracture and Traumatic Injury. Orbital fractures are breaks in any of the bones surrounding the eye area (also known as the orbit or eye socket). These fractures are almost always a result of a blunt force trauma injury, whether by accident or from sports.

How do you diagnose an orbital fracture?

An orbital fracture occurs when one or more of the bones around the eyeball break, often caused by a hard blow to the face. To diagnose a fracture, ophthalmologists examine the eye and surrounding area. X-ray and computed tomography scans may also be taken.

What causes diplopia in blowout fracture?

Vertical diplopia may be caused by entrapment of the perimuscular tissue surrounding the inferior rectus muscle in the fracture site. This results in limited upgaze and may cause pain on attempted upgaze as well. Damage to the third nerve branch to the inferior rectus muscle also may cause limited vertical motility.

How is blowout fracture diagnosed?

Computerized tomography scanning with axial and coronal sections remains the gold standard for assessing orbital fractures.

What causes an orbital blowout fracture?

Blowout fractures result from trauma to the orbital bones. When an object hits the orbital bones (usually the eye brow and upper cheek bone) the force is transmitted to the bones. If the force is great enough, the bones buckle and break. Any large object with force or speed can cause a blowout fracture.

Which orbital bone is most likely to fracture with blunt trauma to the eye?

The most commonly fractured wall of the orbit is the medial orbital floor.

Can orbital fracture cause dizziness?

In some cases, this can cause complications, including bradycardia and heart block [3]. And these symptoms such as dizziness, vomiting are mimicking head injury and causing discomfort of eye opening, therefore, definitive ophthalmic exams such as diplopia test or forced duction test might be disturbed.

Do blowout fractures require surgery?

Treatment Options The occurrence of a blowout fracture in and of itself is not necessarily an indication for surgical repair. Patients without significant displacement of the eyeball within the boney eye socket or without entrapped muscle within the fracture site usually do not require surgical repair of the fracture.

What is an orbital blowout?

The orbit, or eye socket, is the cavity of the skull that holds the eye. An orbital blowout can occur when an object strikes the orbit with blunt force. This injury is commonly the result of a fist, baseball, or tennis ball that strikes the eye. The bony orbit’s job is to protect the eyeball.

Is a blowout fracture a medical emergency?

The majority of blow-out fractures do not require surgical intervention. Patients with orbital blow-out fractures who have minimal displacement, no diplopia, and no entrapment can be safely discharged home. All patients should be evaluated by an ophthalmologist within one week of the event.

How serious is an orbital fracture?

Most patients with any form of facial fracture — such as orbital — will experience moderate to severe pain, which needs to be managed. This is due to a relatively high density of sensory pain fibers in the facial and orbital regions, thus making pain symptoms significant.

What can cause an orbital fracture?

The main cause of an orbital socket fracture is a hard hit to your face. This can be from a ball, fist, steering wheel, or anything else that hits you in the face with a lot of force and leads to a fractured orbital bone.

How long does orbital blowout fracture take to heal?

Although eye socket fractures can be dangerous, most people recover well. If you went into the surgery with double vision, it may last as long as two to four months after surgery. If it doesn’t go away after four to six months, you may need eye muscle surgery or special corrective glasses.