Early treatment of orbital floor fractures with catheter balloon in children.

Fifteen pediatric patients with orbital floor fractures were successfully treated early, following injury by a transantrally introduced catheter-balloon technique. The latter stabilizes and supports the torn, but still vascularized periosteum at the edges of the fracture and also serves as a guide for its further proliferation and new bone formation. Apart from a transient anesthesia in the dermatome of the infraorbital nerve in certain patients no complication or sequela was noted in this series. Accordingly early repair with the use of catheter-balloon appears to be a viable alternative in the repair of orbital floor fracture in children.