Concomitant ocular injuries with orbital fractures.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The orbital floor may fracture alone, and the fracture is then defined as "pure"; when there is a rim involvement, the fracture may be defined as "impure". Controversy exists as to the pathophysiology of orbital floor fractures and the incidence of orbital rim involvement. The purpose of this retrospective review was to determine the incidence of purity in orbital floor blowout fractures and the rate of ocular injuries in pure and impure floor fractures.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: The charts of 250 patients with orbital fractures, treated at a primary trauma center between 1992 and 1996, were reviewed. All fractures had been examined by the Ophthalmology Service and confirmed by high-resolution computerized tomography scans. The average age of the patients was 45 years; more than 90% were male. Motor vehicle accidents were the most commonly documented mechanism of injury, followed by interpersonal violence and falls. Almost 50% could not be categorized for mechanism of injury.

RESULTS AND/OR CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of ocular injuries in pure fractures (n = 54; 5.6%) was higher than in impure fractures (n = 26; 2.0%) (p = 0.05). Serious visual injuries following orbital fractures occurred in 17.1% of the patients; they were more common in patients with pure fractures.