[Immediate and late repair of the midface fracture]

A new method of repairing midface fracture is reported. The authors emphasize that midface fracture should be treated by early open reduction in order to recover good function and external contour. The paper presents the causes, the classification of injury, and the symptoms and diagnosis of midface fracture in 65 cases. Four types of operative approaches were used: 1. hemi-coronal or coronal incision; 2. intraoral incision; 3. transconjunctival approach; and 4. Le-Fort I osteotomy. Postoperative roentgenographic examinations after 1-3 months showed bony healing of all the fractures and good external contour as well. Both functional and cosmetic results were achieved. The indications, advantages, disadvantages of the operation and the operative approaches were discussed.