| Description |
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Transverse fractures are usually the result of a blow to the occipital or frontal bones, and fracture lines may be bilateral.
A hemotympanum is commonly present although frank bleeding from the ear is rare. Cerebrospinal fluid leaks into the middle ear are more likely to occur with this type of fracture.
Drainage from the ear is not common, since the tympanic membrane is rarely involved in this type of fracture.
About 50% of transverse temporal bone fractures are associated with facial nerve paralysis. The fracture line runs across the facial nerve in the internal auditory canal or its intralabyrinthine portion.
The immediate onset of paralysis strongly suggests that the nerve has been transected, avulsed, or impaled by a bony fragment. |
