ABDUCENT NERVE PALSY FOLLOWING TRANSVERSE FRACTURE OF THE MIDDLE CRANIAL FOSSA

Transverse sphenoidal fractures may be associated with a variety of sk ull base injuries and neural deficits. Among those nerve injuries, ocu lomotor palsies and particularly sixth cranial nerve palsy, are quite common. Blows on the side of the head in the squamous temporal region may run across the floor of the middle cranial fossa through the great er wing of the sphenoid in the transverse cranial axis. We report thre e cases of patients who had sustained craniofacial injury which includ ed a transverse fracture of the middle cranial fossa through the sphen oid sinus, extending to the petrous apex and producing abducent, facia l, and eighth nerve dysfunction. Spontaneous recovery from diplopia oc curred in all cases within 4 months. The management of the patients an d the patterns of transverse cranial base fractures and their associat ed clinical features are discussed.