Ocular Outcomes of Maxillofacial Trauma - A Decennary Descriptive Study

Maxillofacial trauma is amongst the most frequently encountered trauma seen in the hospital emergency setting. It may be life-threatening on rare occasions, and with concomitant injuries, it is often severely debilitating.

The present study was conducted to determine the occurrence of concomitant orbital and ocular injuries amongst patients with maxillofacial trauma, and also helps in deriving a correlation between different patterns of maxillofacial fractures.

All the records of the patients with maxillofacial trauma who were admitted to our institution over a 10-year period were analyzed. The files were screened to isolate the patients with concomitant ocular and orbital injuries.

Out of a total of 686 patients, 370 had associated ocular injuries. A total of 566 (82.5%) patients were males and 120 (17.5%) females. A total of 236 patients (34.4%) were in the 3rd decade. A total of 351 cases of orbital fracture (isolated + concomitant) were reported. About 44 (12.5%) cases of isolated orbital floor fractures were seen.Subconjunctival hemorrhage accounted for the maximum number of cases amounting to 59.19%. The least associated ocular injuries seen were of traumatic mydriasis (0.28%). Out of 370 cases of ocular injuries, 249 (67.3%) were associated with fractures of the zygomaticomaxillary complex.

The present study draws attention to the concomitant orbital and ocular injuries in maxillofacial trauma patients. This study is strongly suggestive of a very high probability of concomitant ocular injury in maxillofacial trauma patients which necessitates strong interdepartmental coordination for holistic management of the maxillofacial trauma patients.