Will an orbital fracture heal on its own?

Orbital fractures are different from other types of fractures, and the treatment methods are also different. For patients with severe orbital fractures, if the timing of treatment is not well grasped, it will easily cause long-term effects on the eyes, so it must be taken seriously. So will orbital fractures heal automatically? Mild patients may ask this question. It is recommended that even if the symptoms are mild, you should treat them with caution and follow the doctor's advice.

1. Is surgery necessary after orbital fracture?

For some small fractures, if the eyeball is not obviously sunken (no more than 2mm), the appearance will not be greatly affected. If the fracture is large, the eyeball may be obviously sunken and may be accompanied by symptoms such as diplopia. Enophthalmos may be mild in the early stages and may not stabilize until 2-3 months after the injury, so the decision to perform surgery depends on the extent of the fracture. For the problem of double vision, mild cases can usually recover on their own and do not require surgical treatment. Severe enophthalmos affects beauty, while severe diplopia affects work and life, so surgical correction is needed.

However, for some patients, diplopia will gradually improve after trauma and does not necessarily require surgical treatment. Of course, whether surgery is needed should be decided by an experienced orbital surgeon. After all, surgery has certain risks. In the early stages, you can use some drugs to reduce edema and provide neurotrophic drugs, and have regular check-ups.

2. When is the best time to perform surgery on orbital fractures?

For children's orbital fractures, especially orbital floor fractures, the earlier the surgical repair, the better the effect, generally within 5-7 days after the injury. Late-stage surgery is often performed because of degeneration and atrophy of the extraocular muscles due to impaction, which affects future eye movements and may lead to lifelong regrets.

For adults with orbital floor fractures, or fractures of both the orbital inner wall and orbital floor, enophthalmos is often obvious and there is diplopia. In this case, surgical correction is recommended. The operation time generally does not exceed 2-3 months after the injury. Surgery can be performed to correct enophthalmos one year after the injury, but if some patients have double vision problems, it is generally difficult to completely relieve them.