[Diagnosis and therapy of post-traumatic diplopia (author's transl)]

The authors describe the diagnosis and operative methods for the treatment of 36 patients which were operated on in the last two years. These patients included 32 with various face fractures, of which 7 had blow-out fractures. In 4 patients the diplopia was caused by injuries to the soft tissues without bony fracture. The examinations comprised x-ray methods and also ophthalmological examinations, especially with the synoptometer. In 24 operated patients, reposition of the bony fragments or autologous bone grafts were done according to the kind of injury present. Although 17 patients were operated on very late (some weeks up to several months after the trauma), in 13 patients (54%) a complete cure could be achieved, and all the other patients showed an improvement. In 3 patients there was only a minor improvement, and it was decided to perform further operations on the extrinsic eye muscles. The authors emphasize the special sense of multi-disciplinary working together in the diagnosis and therapy of patients with face injuries, while this is very important for the success of the treatment.