Gradual oculomotor training in blow-out orbital fracture reconstruction recovery

Exercise rehabilitation for recurrent extraocular muscle movement limitation after pediatric blowout fracture surgery: a case report

White-eyed blowout fractures with extraocular muscle (EOM) entrapment necessitate emergency surgical intervention. However, even after surgery, diplopia or EOM motion limitations may persist due to the incomplete reduction of soft tissue herniation caused by inadequate dissection or unresolved muscle strangulation. In this report, we present a case of postoperative EOM movement limitation in a 5-year-old girl who experienced recurrent restriction in the upward gaze of her right eye 14 days after surgery. Instead of revision surgery, the patient was treated with targeted EOM exercises focusing on the inferior rectus muscle and inferior oblique muscle. The patient was instructed to slowly move her pupils from the central point to the upper and outer sides, then in a straight line from the central point to the lower and inner sides before returning to the center point. On the 28th postoperative day, 2 weeks after initiating the exercises, the patient's EOM motion fully recovered. This case highlights the effectiveness of EOM exercises as a non-surgical treatment approach for improving recurrent EOM movement limitations in the absence of soft tissue herniation following surgical management of blowout fractures in children.

Role of orthoptics and scoring system for orbital floor blowout fracture: surgical or conservative treatment

AIM

To assess the role of orthoptics in referring patients with orbital floor blowout fracture (OFBF) for conservative or surgical treatment and based on the results, to propose a scoring system for such decision making.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 69 patients with OFBF was performed (35 treated conservatively, 34 surgically). The role of orthoptics in referring to surgery or conservative treatment was retrospectively evaluated, the factors with the highest significance for decision making were identified, and a scoring system proposed using Logistic regression.

RESULTS

According to defined criteria, the treatment was unsuccessful in 2 (6%) surgically treated and only in one (3%) conservatively treated patient. The proposed scoring system includes the defect size and several values resulting from the orthoptic examination, the elevation of the eyebulb measured on Lancaster screen being the most significant.

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrates the benefits of orthoptic examination when making decisions on conservative or surgical treatment and for diagnosing ocular motility disorder (with or without binocular diplopia) in OFBF patients. The proposed scoring system could, following verification in a prospective study, become a valuable adjunctive tool.