[The oculomotor effects of the fractures of the floor of the orbit].

PURPOSE: Fractures of the orbit floor have very disabling oculomotor after effects. The objective of this study was to report that close collaboration between the maxillo-facial specialist and ophthalmologist is necessary to avoid oculomotor after effects.

METHODS AND PATIENTS: Our study included 10 cases of the fracture of the orbit floor. These cases were recorded between 1992 and 1996.

RESULTS

This pathology affected young subjects aged between 20 and 40 years in 70 % of the cases. 80 % of the subjects were males. 90 % of the patients presented a vertical diplopia as a result of a transitory oculomotor deficit. 20 % of the subjects presented a permanent oculomotor deficit at the stage of after effects. All these deficits were of a mechanical origin and, contrary to other authors, we found no deficit with nervous sensory origin.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic success is based on early diagnosis and treatment that requires close collaboration between the maxillo-facial and ophthalmology teams.