Fractures of the posterior wall of the frontal sinus: non-surgical management and complications.

BACKGROUND: treatment of frontal sinus fractures remains controversial. If the posterior wall is fractured and there is cerebrospinal fluid leak, treatment seeks to restore the integrity of the dura and isolate the intracranial contents through the obliteration of the nasofrontal duct and cranialization. Another group supports nonoperative management CSF leakage is produced. The purpose is to avoid complications of meningitis, fistula and late sequelae. The difficulty lies in predicting which patients will develop complications. The aim of this study is to identify complications in patients with posterior wall fracture of the frontal sinus treated nonsurgically.

METHODS: an observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted with 20 patients with posterior wall fractures of the frontal sinus treated nonsurgically at the Hospital de Traumatología y Ortopedia Lomas Verdes, Service of Maxillofacial Surgery from January 2007 to October 2009.

RESULTS: twenty patients with posterior wall fractures of the frontal sinus were included. There were 17 males and 3 females. Fractures were divided into groups according to their degree of movement and presence of cerebrospinal fluid fistula. Postoperative complications were cerebrospinal fluid fistula and frontal abscess.

CONCLUSIONS: nonsurgical treatment has proven to be an option, although not free from complications, the most common being CSF fistula and abscess. Future comparative studies should be carried out to define therapeutic strategies usibg clinical monitoring and long-term imaging.