Need of Two Planes of CT Scan for Evaluation of Orbital Blowout Fracture Reconstruction.

Lee, Soo Hyang; Burm, Jin Sik; Kim, Yang Woo

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2005;32(2):194-198.
Published online March 1, 2005.

Need of Two Planes of CT Scan for Evaluation of Orbital Blowout Fracture Reconstruction.

Soo Hyang Lee, Jin Sik Burm, Yang Woo Kim

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jsburm@ewha.ac.kr

Abstract

In many reports on the reconstruction of an orbital blowout fracture, CT(computed tomography) imaging has been used for postoperative evaluation. However, in most cases, only one plane of the CT scan was presented, which may not be sufficient for accurate evaluation. This study reviewed the CT scans presented in the related 49 articles (56 cases), and investigated our patients (150 cases) to investigate where were the most frequent unfavorable reconstructions, and to determine which planes should be presented for accurate evaluation. One plane of the CT scan was presented in 70% of the cases. On the other hand, 30% of the cases presented two planes of the CT scans. In our cases, the most prevalent sites for an unfavorable reconstruction were the posterior portion of the inferior wall, and the posterior and the inferior portion of the medial wall. In order to accurately evaluate an orbital wall reconstruction, at least two planes of a CT scan are needed. For an inferior wall evaluation, both the middle and the posterior planes of the coronal section or both the coronal and the sagittal sections are necessary. In addition, for the medial wall evaluation, both the axial and the coronal sections or both the middle and the posterior planes of the coronal section are required.

Keywords: Blowout fracture; Computed tomography; Evaluation