Otological manifestations of temporal bone fractures

Ravindran D, Dev SS, Sindhu BS

Pdf Page Numbers :- 101-107

Darshana Ravindran¹, Shambhu Dev S¹, and Sindhu BS^1,*

¹Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Government T D Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala 688005, India

*Corresponding author: Dr. Sindhu BS, Assistant Professor, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Government TD Medical College, Alappuzha, Kerala 688005. Email: sindhubs16@gmail.com

Received 8 January 2024; Revised 24 February 2024; Accepted 7 March 2024; Published 18 March 2024

Citation: Ravindran D, Dev SS, Sindhu BS. Otological manifestations of temporal bone fractures. J Med Sci Res. 2024; 12(2):101-107. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17727/JMSR.2024/12-19

Copyright: © 2024 Ravindran D et al. Published by KIMS Foundation and Research Center. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

Background: Temporal bone fractures are caused by high intensity trauma and can result in various facial and cochleovestibular sequelae, which can affect the quality of life. The aim was to study about the various otological manifestations of temporal bone fractures in head trauma patients.

Methods: Descriptive study of 82 patients was conducted in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Government T D Medical College, Alappuzha from April 2019 to March 2021. All patients with radiological evidence of temporal bone fractures were taken for study and their symptoms and signs were compared among otic capsule sparing (OCS) and otic capsule violating (OCV) type fractures. Data was analysed statistically using SPSS version 22 and p value calculated using chi-square test.

Results: Majority of the patients were in the 20–40-year age group. Male to female ratio was 8.1:1. The most common aetiology was road traffic accidents (RTAs) n=74 (90.24%). The incidence of tinnitus (p value=0.02), vertigo (p value=0.007), facial palsy (p value=0.0004), CSFO (p value=0.0002), nystagmus (p value=0.0065) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) (p value=0.00001) were found to be more in OCV type fractures and their association was found to be statistically significant. The incidence of TM perforation (p value=0.01), conductive hearing loss (CHL) (p value=0.0008) and EAC laceration (p value=0.04) was more in OCS type fractures and was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Rapid diagnosis of temporal bone fractures is crucial as it enables effective initial management aimed at avoiding the facial and cochleovestibular sequelae that can adversely affect the quality of life.

Keywords: temporal bone; fracture; facial palsy; tinnitus; otological manifestation; sensorineural hearing loss