Inlay Grafting for the Treatment of the Posterior Comminuted Fracture of Medial Orbital Wall

Lim, Jong Hyo; Kim, Tae Gon; Lee, Jun Ho; Kim, Yong Ha

Abstract

PURPOSE: For blowout fracture of the medial orbital wall, the goals of treatment are complete reduction of the herniated soft tissue and anatomic reconstruction of the wall without surgical complications. Surgeons frequently worry about damage to the optic nerve from the dissection, when the part over the posterior ethmoidal foramen was fractured. The authors performed small incision and inlay grafting for reconstruction of medial orbital wall fracture.
METHODS
Between January 2007 and April 2008, 15 out of 32 patients were included in an analysing the outcome of corrected medial orbital wall fracture. In 15 patients of posterior comminuted fracture of medial orbital wall, insertion of porous polyethylene(Medpor(R) channel implant, Porex, USA) to ethmoidal sinus was performed in multiple layer, through the transconjunctival approach (inlay grafting).
RESULTS
In all cases, the orbital bone volume was reconstructed in its normal anatomical position. The associated ocular problems disappeared except for mild enophthalmos in 2 patients and there were no surgical complications associated with inlay grafting.
CONCLUSION
The advantage of inlay grafting include anatomical reconstruction of the orbital wall; the avoidance of optic nerve injury; the simplicity of the procedure; and consequently, the absence of surgery-related complications. This technique is presented as one of the preferred treatments for posterior comminuted fracture of medial orbital wall.