Background and objectives: In children, damage to the orbit is not as common as in the adult population. Although possible complications like trapdoor fractures or the white eye blowout fractures might be challenging and treatment with the lowest possible time delay and accurate strategy is mandatory. Therefore our intention was, to develop a workflow for pediatric orbital fractures, to detect the aforementioned complications.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of a total number of 2802 trauma cases requiring treatment in our department between the years 2000–2010.
Results: The study resulted in 930 patients with orbital fractures with 60 cases (6.5%) in patients 17 years or younger. 48 patients (80%) presented with orbital floor fractures, whereof 13 patients (22%) encountered a trapdoor-fracture with indication for immediate decompression. In 47 cases (78%) operative reconstruction was indicated. 17 children (28%) struggled with pre-operative diplopia, 9 (15%) with restricted eye movement, 23 (38%) with nerve irritation respectively. Post-operative complications were detected in 13 cases (27% of all operated children).
Conclusions: Thorough investigation of each trauma to the midface in pediatric patients is required in our opinion, although the number of severe complications might not be as high as estimated in the literature.