What are the complications of zygomatic bone fracture?

What are the possible complications of a zygomatic bone fracture?

The zygomatic bone is one of the bones of the face. If the zygomatic bone is fractured, symptoms such as difficulty opening the mouth usually occur. In severe cases, destruction and displacement deformity will occur after the fracture, leading to many complications.

1. The fracture site compresses the temporalis muscle or hinders the movement of the coracoid process, resulting in limited mouth opening. Limited mouth opening often indicates that the masticatory muscles or the temporomandibular joint are involved; it can also be caused by fracture displacement or scar contracture. When checking the mouth opening, the distance between the incisal edges of the upper and lower central incisors is used as the standard. The normal mouth opening is approximately equivalent to the width of the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger when the three fingers are closed. The average is about 3.7 cm. The mouth opening is less than the normal value, which means that the mouth opening is limited.

2. The zygomatic bone forms most of the outer wall of the orbit and the infraorbital rim. After the fracture is displaced, the eye can be displaced and produce diplopia. Under the premise of normal retinal correspondence, an object falls on non-corresponding points of the retina with excessive separation, and binocular single vision cannot be formed, but one object is seen as two objects. As long as there is one or more inflammation, trauma or neurological disorders, the action of the binocular muscles of the six muscles that control the rotation of the eyeball is not coordinated. For example, the right lateral rectus muscle contracts, while the left medial rectus muscle contracts slightly slower or less forcefully, the rotation of the eyeball will be restricted, or the eyeball will deviate to one side, forming strabismus. At this time, it will be particularly difficult to see things; or an object can be seen as two, resulting in double shadows of vision, that is, diplopia.

3. Zygomatic bone fracture can cause damage to the infraorbital nerve and cause infraorbital numbness.

4. The relationship between the orbital volume and the eyeball is that every 1cm3 increase in orbital volume will cause 0.89mm of enophthalmos. The maxillary sinus is embedded in the soft tissue of the orbit, and fat atrophy and scar traction can also cause enophthalmos.