Orbital blowout floor fractures: early versus late repair

New Orleans-Ophthalmologists should not be reluctant to intervene surgically when patients present with orbital blowout floor fractures weeks or months after the injury occurred, suggested Guy J. Ben-Simon, MD, Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA.

A retrospective analysis he and his colleagues performed showed no apparent difference in surgical outcomes between patients who received early treatment (2 weeks or less following the incident) or late repair (2 weeks to 3 years).

A review of 4 years of medical records found 50 patients who underwent unilateral orbital blowout floor fracture repair; 27 received early repair and 23 received late repair.

Both groups showed similar improvement in ocular motility, enophthalmos, and vertical ductions. A subgroup of 20 patients with muscle entrapment showed more limitations in vertical ductions and has more improvement in ocular motility postoperatively.