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Positive outcomes common after surgery for orbital blow-out fractures in children
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Surgery for orbital blow-out fractures in pediatric patients tends to have good long-term outcomes as long as intervention is not delayed for an extended period of time, a study found.
The retrospective case review consisted of all cases of surgical intervention for pediatric orbital blow-out fractures at a tertiary ophthalmic center in Singapore. The study authors reviewed demographics, time to intervention and outcomes for 23 subjects.
Twenty-one cases were floor fractures, one case was a medial wall fracture, and one case was a combination medial wall and floor fracture. Twenty of the 21 floor fractures had radiological images, which showed 17 were linear fractures and three were open fractures. Patients with open fractures had a mean age of 14 years vs. 12.6 years in patients with linear fractures. There was a mean of 13 days (range: 0 to 74 days) from injury to intervention.
Fourteen patients had preoperative diplopia, while four demonstrated mild diplopia at the final follow-up at 18 months. Diplopia in the primary position showed significant improvement (P = .006), as did diplopia in the up-gaze position (P = .014).
“Outcome was not affected by age, duration between injury and intervention, type of fracture, and nature of implants used,” the study authors said.
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