Blow-Out Fractures of the Orbital Floor

Abstract

A number of suggestions have been advanced for more efficient diagnosis and treatment of blow-out fractures of the orbital floor. The diagnosis is often missed on routine examination because the fracture either is not suspected or else is masked by facial edema or lacerations. A number of treatments have been devised, but none has proved acceptable to all investigators. The purpose of this paper is to report our experience at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with blow-out fractures, with special attention to the histories of 10 patients treated by antral packing with petrolatum impregnated gauze. <h3>Mechanism and Causes of Injury</h3> The orbital contents are protected by a ring of strong bony abutments. These are composed of the supraorbital arch of the frontal bone superiorly; the zygoma laterally; the frontal process of the maxilla medially; and the thick rim of the orbital floor, formed by the zygoma and maxilla,