Fractures of the orbital floor are common midfacial fractures.
Although conventional approaches such as the subciliary or
transconjunctival approach are usually used for such fractures,
the endoscopic transantral approach is safe and reliable
in suitably selected patients1 and has recently been used as
minimally invasive treatment.1,2
Improvement of ocular movement after the repair of a
fracture of the orbital floor is generally confirmed by the
forced duction test. However, such improvement is more
difficult to assess after the endoscopic transantral approach
without direct visualisation of soft tissues above the orbital
floor, because the assessment depends on the surgeon’s skill
and experience and there are few objective indicators. We
report the use of a dial tension gauge to assess quantitatively
the intraoperative improvement of ocular movement
after endoscopic transantral repair of a fracture of the orbital
floor.
Under general anaesthesia, 5/0 nylon is sutured to the
insertion of the inferior rectus muscle so that the globe is
not injured by the conjunctiva being grasped at the insertion.
This procedure is not as traumatic as multiple trials of
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 45 787 2659; fax: +81 45 785 8438.
E-mail address: iwai104oams@yahoo.co.jp (T. Iwai).
the forced duction test with forceps. To confirm improvement
of ocular movement quantitatively, the forced duction
test is done bilaterally with a dial tension gauge (TS-31D;
YDM Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) (Figs. 1 and 2), which is
generally used to measure orthodontic force such as that of
elastics.