Purpose: To epidemiologically investigate the characteristics of orbital fractures.
Subjects and methods: This study included patients who were diagnosed with orbital fractures at Showa University Hospital from January 2018 to December 2021. We excluded orbital rim and optic canal fracture cases. We investigated patient background and clinical findings.
Results: This study included 316 patients aged 39.6±21.6 (mean±standard deviation) years, including 226 men and 90 women. The most frequent causes of fractures were unexpected accidents in 138 cases (43.7%), followed by sports in 124 cases (39.2%). The percentage of unexpected accidents and sports was higher than that reported in previous studies. Furthermore, it varied with different types of sports. The most common fracture was isolated blowout fractures in 201 cases (63.6%), followed by medial and blowout fractures in 54 cases (17.1%), which excluded inferomedial orbital strut fractures. With regard to fracture type, we classified the cases as open (i. e., the presence of bone fragment dislocation) and closed (i. e., the absence of bone fragment dislocation) type cases. There were 256 open type cases (81.0%) and 60 closed type cases (19.0%). In addition, 8 cases (2.5%) had orbital hemorrhage, 114 cases (36.1%) had ocular motility restriction, and 190 cases (60.1%) had complications, including nose bleeding. Intraocular injury was observed in 50 cases (15.8%), of which 37 cases had commotio retinae. Among all cases, 3 cases (0.9%) had less than 20/20 vision at their last visit.
Conclusion: The causes of orbital fractures in this study varied compared with those reported in previous studies, indicating social conditions.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 127: 557-562,2023.