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Surgical intervention time different for adults, children, study says
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Blowout fractures of the inferior orbital wall were more common in children than adults and following trauma, surgical intervention might be needed within 5 days in children with trapdoor factures and 2 weeks for adults, according to a study.
Jae Hwan Kwon, MD, and colleagues reviewed the clinical features and recovery period of patients with such factures, examining the differences between children and adults.
They conducted a retrospective study, published in Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery. They looked at the medical records of 70 patients, 16 children aged 16 years and younger, and 54 adults, aged 17 and older. Symptoms and fracture patterns were compared between the groups.
They found that serious periorbital edema was noted in 43 adults, or 80% and 4 children, or 25%; diplopia in 27 adults, or 50% and 16 children, or 100%; and extraocular muscle limitation in 23 adults, or 43% and 13 children, or 81%. Trapdoor features were frequent in the children group, while 30 adult patients had open-door fractures, according to the study.