Endoscopic endonasal repair of orbital floor fracture

Background: High-resolution endoscopes and the advent of endoscopic instrum ents for sinus surgery provide surgeons with excellent endonasal visualizat ion and access to the orbital walls. Objective: To demonstrate repair of orbital floor blow-out fractures throug h an intranasal endoscopic approach that allows repair of the orbital floor fracture and elevation of the orbital content using a balloon catheter wit hout an external incision. Design: This study was a retrospective analysis of 11 patients who underwen t surgical repair of orbital floor fractures from September 1994 to June 19 97. There were 10 male patients and I female patient, aged 12 to 32 years ( mean age, 24 years). These patients had undergone primary repair of pure or bital blowout fractures and were followed up at least 6 months after surger y. Results: There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Nine patients showed a complete improvement of their diplopia. Two patients with posterior fractures showed persistent diplopia, which was well managed by prisms. Conclusion: Endoscopic repair of the orbital floor blowout fracture using a n endonasal approach appears to be a safe and effective technique for the t reatment of diplopia.