Temporal bone fractures: evaluation of 77 patients and a management algorithm.

BACKGROUND We aimed to evaluate the etiologies, otolaryngological features, radiological findings, management strategies, and outcomes of temporal bone fractures. METHODS Seventy-seven temporal bone fracture cases were retrospectively evaluated for age and gender distribution, side of the fracture, etiology of injuries, the presence of blood otorrhea, tympanic membrane perforation, cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea, hearing loss, hemotympanum, and facial or other cranial nerve palsies, and computerized tomography reports. RESULTS Nearly 55% of the cases were caused by traffic accidents and were predominantly male (76.6%). Otolaryngological presentations in order to frequency were early conductive hearing loss (65.8%), blood otorrhea (61.2%), hemotympanum (58.5%), tympanic membrane perforation (25.6%), facial nerve paralysis (12.3%), cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea (8.5%), and sensorineural hearing loss (5.4%). Most of the fractures were petrous (65.8%) and longitudinal type (51.2%). CONCLUSION In this research, otolaryngological findings in order of frequency and treatment approaches were compared with literature findings and discussed in 77 temporal bone fracture cases. We formed a management algorithm for the systematic evaluation and treatment of temporal fractures.