At Stephen Bilkis & Associates, PLLC, our experienced New York Brain Injury Lawyer Team estimates there are over one and a half million people annually who suffer from various types of traumatic brain injury. Among other head injuries a traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can include basal skull fracture, occipital fracture, cerebral edema and orbital blowout fracture.
If your eye or ocular region is impacted, such as by a fist, elbow or baseball, the intraorbital pressure can rapidly increase resulting in an orbital blowout fracture. Each eyeball is situated in an orbit or eye socket. An orbit is a chamber within the skull that is surrounded by very thin bones. An orbital blowout fracture is a break in one or more of the bones which border this chamber.
Our New York Blow Out Fracture Injury Lawyers have found that orbital blowout fractures can range from minor to very serious. The most common symptoms of a blowout fracture include brain contusion (bruising), edema (swelling) and pain around the eye, diploplia (double vision), facial numbness, nausea, light sensitivity, epistaxis, severe headache, painful eye movement and vomiting. A blowout fracture can also cause the intraorbital material to be forced into the paranasal sinus, which can lead to permanent eye motility restriction.
Treatment of any orbital fracture will depend on the type and severity. With a lack of serious injury, most orbital blowout fractures may be allowed to heal without extensive medical treatment. If there is a probability of permanent injury, a more serious orbital blowout fracture can be surgically repaired by realigning the bones or by the introduction of an orbital implant to close the fracture and restore normal eye motility. Rarely is surgical repair immediately performed. It can be postponed for up to two weeks to allow swelling to diminish. However, failure to treat this injury properly can lead to blindness and permanent brain injury. If this happens there will be a resulting medical malpractice case.
Although one-third of all orbital blowout fractures results from sports related injury, the most common cause of blowout fracture is blunt force trauma to the head. This type of head injury and brain damage are also seen in a car accident or truck accident as a result of severe impact. At Stephen Bilkis & Associates, PLLC, our New York Brain Injury Lawyer Group has also discovered an increase in air bag induced blowout fractures. The impact force of a deploying air bag can create an orbital blow-out fracture. Air bags have lowered the risk of serious injury from motor vehicle accidents, but their protective intent is not harmless and can result in various types of skull injury. Orbital blowout fractures can also result from direct orbital blunt injury, sports injury, motor vehicle accidents and assault.
If you or someone you love is suffering from a blowout fracture, epidural hematoma, brain swell, , occipital fracture, contusion, cerebral edema, brain concussion subdural hematoma or eye orbital fracture, traumatic brain damage or other head injury, contact one of our New York Brain Injury Lawyers at Stephen Bilkis & Associates, PLLC. Please call us at 800.696.9529, online or contact an office in Nassau County or Suffolk County in Long Island or one of our offices in New York City including Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island or Brooklyn for a consultation, free of charge.