RESEARCH ARTICLE
Epidemiology of Orbital Fractures in a Large Hospital in the Netherlands: Results of Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Orbital Trauma Team
Tamar J. A. Kooger1, *, Maurits V. Joosse2, Ellen M. van Minderhout3, Kenneth Hergaarden4, Yu-Lan Khouw5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2021Volume: 15
First Page: 122
Last Page: 129
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-15-122
DOI: 10.2174/1874364102115010122
Article History:
Received Date: 6/2/2021Revision Received Date: 11/4/2021
Acceptance Date: 6/5/2021
Electronic publication date: 11/08/2021
Collection year: 2021
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction:
This study aims to describe the epidemiology, aetiology and therapy of orbital fractures in a large municipal hospital in The Hague, the Netherlands, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of an integrated approach of orbital trauma care with a team consisting of an ophthalmologist, an orthoptist and an oral and maxillofacial (OMF) surgeon.
Methods:
We obtained data from patients with an orbital fracture between June 2015 until July 2018. Primary outcomes were the classification of orbital fractures and treatment (conservative or surgical).
Results:
182 patients were included in this study. The most common type of orbital fracture was an isolated orbital floor fracture (n=56, 30.8%). In most cases, therapy was conservative (69.2%). When surgical repair was indicated, a polydioxanone (PDS) plate was most commonly used (11.5%). The main cause of an orbital fracture was a fall accident (38.5%), followed by assault (32.4%). 32.4% of the patients were intoxicated with alcohol.
Conclusion:
In our study population, almost 70% (69.2%) of the patients were treated conservatively in our study. Compared to the international literature, this percentage is considerably higher than in other studies. In our opinion, our integrated approach to orbital trauma has led to a justifiable reduction of the proportion of cases receiving surgical intervention in orbital fractures. We would like to advocate the implementation of a similar team in other hospitals to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of treatment in patients with orbital fractures.
