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Orbital Blowout Fracture

Orbital Blowout Fracture: The frontal part of the skull contains the orbit that provides the structure as well as a pocket that is boney for the eyeball to sit in. Fractures of the orbit can occur anywhere around the walls of the orbit but are more common to the orbital floor due to it having the weakest structure of the bone.

Several injuries that are serious may occur to the eye because of the blunt force directly on the eyeball. These injuries include: hyphema which is bleeding into the front chamber; and retinal detachments. A hyphema may result from an impact by a small ball straight into the eye. Within several hours of impact, blood will settle into the front chamber of the eyeball. This is quite a serious injury of the eye requiring hospitalization, bilateral patching of the eyes, bed rest, and sedation. This is a condition that normally resolves itself within several days. A detachment of the retina is an additional injury that is serious may happen from trauma that is blunt to the eye, but can happen several years or months post-injury. The retina is the bundle of nerve joining the eyeball to the brain. Deprived of it, the individual would not be able to see.

A detachment of the retina can comprise the individual seeing “flashes of light” or the appearance of a “curtain” dropping. Individuals might also complain of “floaters” in the vision. Individuals with these symptoms ought to immediately be treated by the covering of each eye with patches and taken to an ophthalmologist for surgical repair.

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