Reduction of Supraorbital Fractures via a Short Sub-Brow Incision

The authors report a short-incision supraorbital approach through an upper eyebrow skin incision that was used to treat supraorbital rim fractures in 2 patients.With the patient in the supine position, short incision lines were designed. Their length was usually less than 1 cm (1 or 2 mm medial to the frontal nerve and lateral to the supraorbital nerve), and they were designed at the inferior margin of the eyebrow to avoid injuring the frontal, supraorbital, or supratrochlear nerve. The skin was incised and blunt dissection was performed to reach the supraorbital rim. The periosteum was incised and a cleft palate periosteal elevator was introduced below the fracture segments. Gentle forward and upward traction was applied through the elevator and a click could be heard when the segment was reduced into its anatomical position. An intraoperative skull lateral X-ray was taken and the reduction was confirmed. The skin was repaired layer by layer.In supraorbital rim fractures, this short-incision supraorbital approach through an upper eyebrow skin incision could be applied without injuring the supraorbital nerve, instead of the bicoronal approach.