Clinical features and treatment of severe lateral frontal orbit traffic injuries

Objective: To explore the clinical features and treatment of severe lateral frontal orbit traffic injury.Methods: Clinical data of 27 such patients treated from June 1998 to August 2002 were retrospectively analyzed.Results: The injuries caused by traffic blunt force impact were located on one side of frontal orbit,with confined but complicated wounds.The sufferers had severe open injury,disturbed by slight consciousness disorder with many eye complications.The prospect of mental disorder was obvious.All had mild combined general injury with few contrecoup contusion of brain located in the frontal and temporal lobes and with intracerebral hematoma as well as peridural and subdural hematoma confined to frontotemporale and anterior basocranium.The optic canal fracture and exophthalmus were also commonly seen.Conclusions: Lateral frontal orbit traffic injury is characteristic of high incidence.Its characteristics are related to physiological-anatomic ones in terms of types and impacted areas in traffic injury.It is required in phase I operation that thorough debridement be performed,intracranial hematoma and fragments of necrotic brain tissues be removed in order to prevent cerebral hernia,reduction of fractured frontal orbit be conducted,optic canal be depressurized to save vision and leakage of cerebrospinal fluid be repaired to avoid intracranial infection.