What should I do if my child has an orbital fracture after a fall?

Orbital wall fractures often occur in children after a fall. Orbital burst fractures in children are primarily simple orbital floor fractures, which manifest as soft tissue such as the inferior rectus muscle and/or fatty fascia sticking to the fracture and limited upward rotation of the eye. Surgery is not required if no symptoms such as loss of vision, diplopia, or change in appearance occur. Surgery is required if diplopia persists; if there is a positive passive pull test, if the CT scan indicates significant sticking or herniation of soft tissues and/or extraocular muscles; if there is an inversion of the eye larger than 2 mm or if the eye is displaced. The treatment of orbital burst fractures is aimed at resetting the orbital contents of the fracture and herniation, repairing the orbital wall defect, eliminating or improving ocular motility disorders and diplopia, and correcting intraocular invagination and displacement. Surgical treatment is usually performed 2-3 weeks after the trauma. Diplopia and ocular motility disorders are the most common complications after orbital fracture, mainly referring to diplopia and ocular motility disorders that were not present before surgery but occurred after surgery, or were present before surgery but worsened after surgery. For patients who still have significant diplopia symptoms 6 months to 1 year after surgery, extraocular muscle surgery is feasible. Residual eye entropion is a common postoperative complication, mainly due to incomplete repair of the orbital wall defect. If the eye entropion is greater than 3 mm, reoperation may be considered for correction. Vision loss or loss is the most serious complication, mainly due to direct intraoperative damage to the optic nerve, postoperative intraorbital hemorrhage and soft tissue swelling resulting in increased intraocular pressure, and compression of the optic nerve by the implanted material.