Nasal Bony Fractures means a broken nose is a fracture (crack or break) of the nasal bones. In most cases, there is also some damage to nearby nasal cartilage, particularly the nasal septum, the flexible partition that divides the left and right sides of the nose.
Nasal bony fractures are the most common type of facial bone fractures representing 40% to 50% of cases.Nasal fractures are commonly associated with physical assaults, falls, sports injuries and road traffic accidents.[rx] The bony nasal trauma may be isolated injuries or may occur in combination with other soft tissue injuries, and other facial bony injuries. [rx] The protrusion of the nasal bones and the central location on the face predisposes the nose to injury. Nasal fractures are found to be twice as common in males compared to females. Although nasal fractures tend to be the most common types of facial fractures, they may be associated with fractures of the zygomatic-orbital complex and fractures of the skull base; these should not be missed when assessing the patient.[rx][rx]
Anatomy and Physiology
The nose is made up of a bony and cartilaginous framework. The bony nasal pyramid consists of paired nasal bones and the frontal process of the maxilla bilaterally. Cartilaginous structures include the upper and lower lateral cartilages and the septum. Both of these frameworks are susceptible to fracture.
Nosebleeds are common with nasal fractures. The blood supply to the nose originates from the ophthalmic artery, which is a branch of the internal carotid artery, branching to give the anterior and posterior ethmoidal arteries and the facial and internal maxillary arteries from the external carotid artery. Trauma to the nose may cause anterior septal bleeding from Kiesselbach’s plexus. The Kiesselbach plexus is on the anteroinferior nasal septum and is formed by the anastomosis of the following arteries:
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The anterior ethmoidal artery which is a branch of the ophthalmic artery
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The sphenopalatine artery which is a branch of the maxillary artery
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The greater palatine artery, also a branch of the maxillary artery
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The superior labial artery, a branch of the facial artery
This plexus of vessels is important as more than 90% of patients presenting with epistaxis, will be found to be bleeding from this area.
Trauma to the nasal bones can also cause transection of the anterior ethmoidal artery with resultant brisk, heavy intermittent bleeding. This may require the artery to be clipped.
With nasal fractures, associated fractures of the orbits, maxillary sinus, ethmoid sinus, and cribriform plates are all possible.
Classification of Nasal Bony Fractures
Nasal fractures can be classified on a scale depicting the severity of the injury. An isolated nasal fracture is usually caused by low-velocity trauma. If the nose is fractured by high-velocity trauma then facial fractures are often an accompaniment.
Classification[rx]
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Type I: Injury restricted to soft tissue
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Type IIa: Simple, unilateral nondisplaced fracture
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Type IIb: Simple, bilateral nondisplaced fracture
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Type III: Simple, displaced fracture
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Type IV: Closed comminuted fracture
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Type V: Open comminuted fracture or complicated fracture
Cause of Nasal Bony Fractures
- Nasal fractures are caused by physical trauma to the face. Common sources of nasal fractures include sports injuries, fighting, falls, and car accidents in the younger age groups, and falls from syncope or impaired balance in the elderly.[rx]
Symptoms of Nasal Bony Fractures
Symptoms of a broken nose include bruising, swelling, tenderness, pain, deformity, and/or bleeding of the nose and nasal region of the face.
- Pain or tenderness, especially when touching your nose
- Swelling of your nose and surrounding areas
- Bleeding from your nose
- Bruising around your nose or eyes
- Bruising, swelling and tenderness around the nose
- A deformed, twisted or crooked nose
- Blockage of one or both nostrils
- A deviated septum
- A bruise-like discoloration under the eyes
- Crooked or misshapen nose
- Difficulty breathing through your nose
- Discharge of mucus from your nose
- Feeling that one or both of your nasal passages are blocked
The patient may have difficulty breathing, or excessive nosebleeds (if the nasal mucosa are damaged). The patient may also have bruising around one or both eyes.
Diagnosis of Nasal Bony Fractures
History
Your doctor in the emergency department may ask the following questions
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How – How was the fracture created, and, if chronic, why is it still open? (underlying etiology)
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When – How long has this fracture been present? (e.g., chronic less than 1 month or acute, more than 6 months)
- Where – Where on the body parts is it located? Is it in an area that is difficult to offload, complicated, or keep clean? Is it in an area of high skin tension? Is it near any vital organ and structures such as a major artery?
- What is your Past – Has your previous medical history of fracture? Are you suffering from any chronic disease, such as hypertension, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, previous major surgery? What kind of medicine did you take? What is your food habits, geographic location, Alcohol, tea, coffee consumption habit, anabolic steroid uses for athletes, etc?
Physical Examination
Physical examination is done by your doctor, consisting of palpation of the fracture site, eliciting boney tenderness, edema, swelling. If the fracture is in the dept of a joint, the joint motion, normal movement will aggravate the pain.
- Inspection – Your doctor also check superficial tissue, skin color, involving or not only the epidermal layer or Partial-thickness affects the epidermis and extend into the dermis, but full-thickness also extends through the dermis and into the adipose tissues or full-thickness extends through the dermis, and adipose exposes muscle, bone, evaluate and measure the depth, length, and width of the fracture. Access surrounding skin tissue, fracture margins for tunneling, rolled, undermining fibrotic changes, and if unattached and evaluate for signs and symptoms of infect warm, pain, delayed healing.
- Palpation – Physical examination may reveal tenderness to palpation, swelling, edema, tenderness, worm, temperature, open fracture, closed fracture, microtrauma, and ecchymosis at the site of fracture.
- Motor function – Your doctor may ask the patient to move the injured area to assist in assessing muscle, ligament, and tendon function. The ability to move the joint means only that the muscles and tendons work properly, and does not guarantee bone integrity or stability. The concept that “it can’t be fractured because you can move it” is not correct. The jerk test and manual test are also performed to investigate the motor function.
- Sensory examination – assesses sensations such as light touch, worm, paresthesia, itching, numbness, and pinprick sensations, in its fracture side.
- Range of motion – A range of motion examination of the fracture associate joint and it’s surrounding joint may be helpful in assessing the muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage stability. Active assisted, actively resisted exercises are performed around the injured area joint.
- Blood pressure and pulse check – Blood pressure is the term used to describe the strength of blood with which your blood pushes on the sides of your arteries as it’s pumped around your body. An examination of the circulatory system, feeling for pulses, blood pressure, and assessing how quickly blood returns to the tip of a toe to heart and it is pressed the toe turns white (capillary refill).
Inspection of the Nose and Face
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Deformity and swelling
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Ecchymosis
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Epistaxis
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The shape of the nose: loss of anterior projection of nose with increased intercanthal distance suggests naso-orbital-ethmoid fracture
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Eye movements: blowout fracture may cause extra-ocular muscle entrapment
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Tenderness: Widening of the tip of the nose and nasal obstruction may represent a septal hematoma
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Deformity
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Crepitus
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Orbital rim step-off
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Infraorbital paresthesia
Examination of Nares
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Elevate the tip of the nose to get a good view
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Use a headlight/thudicums nasal speculum or an otoscope/speculum
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Swelling to the septum which is boggy to touch with a cotton bud, and which has a blue/purple appearance is a septal hematoma and will require emergency drainage
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The presence of clear nasal fluid may indicate a CSF leak from an associated basal skull fracture
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Mid-face instability or dental malocclusion is indicative of a midfacial Le Fort fracture
[stextbox id=’custom’]
| Fracture type | Assessment essentials | Key assessment findings | Key points/management |
| Mandibular fracture |
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| Zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture |
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| Frontal fracture |
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| Orbital fracture |
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Sub-conjunctival haemorrhage |
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| Nasoethmoid orbital fracture |
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| CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; CT, computed tomography | |||
[/stextbox]
Imaging
Imaging for isolated nasal fractures is rarely needed.[rx] CT scans are performed for suspected head injuries, basal skull fractures or complex facial injuries.[rx]
Plain radiograph
- sensitivity ~80% 6
- best detected on the lateral view
- Waters view is useful in assessing the nasal arch
CT
- sensitivity is 100%
Treatment of
Soft Tissue Injury
Nasal wounds are cleaned and foreign bodies removed. Small lacerations can be closed with porous surgical tape strips or with fine sutures.
Nasal Fractures
Reduction of nasal fractures is not always required. If there is no fracture, or no deformity or the patient is happy to live with a minor deformity then nothing further needs to be done. If swelling interferes with an adequate examination, the patient should be reassessed after 5 to 7 days. Manipulation should never be delayed more than 2 weeks following injury as the nasal bones heal and fixate: manipulation at this stage will be difficult or impossible. After this time only a formal septorhinoplasty would be possible.
Septal Hematoma
This is caused by a collection of blood underneath the mucoperichondrial layer of the nasal septum. it normally presents with pain and nasal obstruction with a boggy swelling to the septum. If not managed this can lead to a septal abscess, cartilage necrosis and even a nasal saddle deformity can ensue. Aspiration with a syringe and needle may suffice. Some cases may require formal drainage in the operating theatre with an insertion of a small drain or the use of quilting sutures (to obliterate the dead space) to prevent recollection.
Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Leaks
Clear rhinorrhoea following nasal trauma should raise the suspicion of a CSF leak. The cribriform plate is thin bone and a likely area to fracture. Confirmation of the diagnosis is obtained by sending a sample of the clear fluid for beta-2 transferrin assays. A high-resolution CT may help delineate the fracture.
Do no HARM for 72 hours after injury
- Heat—hot baths, electric heat, saunas, heat packs, etc has the opposite effect on the blood flow. Heat may cause more fluid accumulation in the fracture joints by encouraging blood flow. Heat should be avoided when inflammation is developing in the acute stage. However, after about 72 hours, no further inflammation is likely to develop and heat can be soothing.
- Alcohol stimulates the central nervous system that can increase bleeding and swelling and decrease healing.
- Running, and walking may cause further damage, and causes healing delay.
- Massage also may increase bleeding and swelling. However, after 72 hours of your fracture, you can take a simple message, and applying heat may be soothing the pain.
Medication
The following medications may be considered by your doctor to relieve acute and immediate pain, long term treatment
- Antibiotic – Cefuroxime or Azithromycin, or Flucloxacillin or any other cephalosporin/quinolone, meropenem antibiotic must be used to prevent infection or clotted blood removal to prevent further swelling, inflammation, and edema.
- NSAIDs – Prescription-strength drugs that reduce both pain and inflammation. Pain medicines and anti-inflammatory drugs help to relieve pain and stiffness, allowing for increased mobility and exercise. There are many common over-the-counter medicines called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They include first choice NSAIDs is Ketorolac, then Etoricoxib, then Aceclofenac, naproxen.
- Muscle Relaxants – These medications provide relief from spinal muscle spasms, spasticity. Muscle relaxants, such as baclofen, tolperisone, eperisone, methocarbamol, carisoprodol, and cyclobenzaprine, may be prescribed to control postoperative muscle spasms, spasticity, stiffness, contracture.
- Calcium & vitamin D3 – To improve bone health, blood clotting, helping muscles to contract, regulating heart rhythms, nerve functions, and healing fractures. As a general rule, too absorbed more minerals for men and women age 50 and older should consume 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day, and 600 international units of vitamin D a day to heal back pain, fractures, osteoarthritis.
- Neuropathic Agents – Drugs(pregabalin & gabapentin) that address neuropathic—or nerve-related—pain. This includes burning, numbness, tingling sensation, and paresthesia.
- Glucosamine & Diacerein, Chondroitin sulfate – can be used to tighten the loose tendon, cartilage, ligament, and cartilage, ligament regenerates cartilage or inhabits the further degeneration of cartilage, ligament. The dosage of glucosamine is 15oo mg per day in divided dosage and chondroitin sulfate approximately 500mg per day in different dosages, and diacerein minimum of 50 mg per day may be taken if the patient suffers from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and any degenerative joint disease.[rx]
- Topical Medications and essential oil – These prescription-strength creams, gels, ointments, patches, and sprays help relieve pain and inflammation in acute trauma, pain, swelling, tenderness through the skin. If the fracture is closed and not open fracture then you can use this item.
- Antidepressants – A drug that blocks pain messages from your brain and boosts the effects of endorphins in your body’s natural painkillers. It also helps in neuropathic pain, anxiety, tension, and proper sleep.
- Corticosteroids – Also known as oral steroids, these medications reduce inflammation. To heal the nerve inflammation and clotted blood in the joints.
- Dietary supplement – To eradicate the healing process from fracture your body needs a huge amount of vitamin C, and vitamin E. From your dietary supplement, you can get it, and also need to remove general weaknesses & improved health.
- Cough Syrup – If your doctor finds any chest congestion or fracture-related injury in your chest, dyspnoea, post-surgical breathing problem, then advice you to take bronchodilator cough syrup.
What To Eat and What to avoid
Eat Nutritiously During Your Recovery
All bones and tissues in the body need certain micronutrients in order to heal properly and in a timely manner. Eating a nutritious and balanced diet that includes lots of minerals and vitamins is proven to help heal broken bones and all types of fractures. Therefore, focus on eating lots of fresh food produce (fruits and veggies), whole grains, cereal, beans, lean meats, seafood, and fish to give your body the building blocks needed to properly repair your fracture. In addition, drink plenty of purified mineral water, milk, and other dairy-based beverages to augment what you eat.
- Broken bones or fractures bones need ample minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, boron, selenium, omega-3) and protein to become strong and healthy again.
- Excellent sources of minerals/protein include dairy products, tofu, beans, broccoli, nuts and seeds, sardines, sea fish, and salmon.
- Important vitamins that are needed for bone healing include vitamin C (needed to make collagen that your body essential element), vitamin D (crucial for mineral absorption, or machine for mineral absorber from your food), and vitamin K (binds calcium to bones and triggers more quickly collagen formation).
- Conversely, don’t consume food or drink that is known to impair bone/tissue healing, such as alcoholic beverages, sodas, fried fast food, most fast food items, and foods made with lots of refined sugars and preservatives.
What Are Some Things I Should I Do Right Away?
You’ll need to stop any bleeding and try to reduce pain and swelling. Do these things until you can get to a doctor:
Stop the Bleeding
- Sit up — don’t lie down or lean back. Your nose needs to stay higher than your heart.
- Lean forward so that the blood won’t run into the back of your throat.
- Pinch the soft part of your nose with your thumb and index finger, and hold it tightly for 5 minutes.
- If the bleeding hasn’t stopped, pinch your nose again for 10 more minutes.
Ease the Pain
- Take over-the-counter pain medicine as directed on the package (like acetaminophen or ibuprofen) as needed.
- Sleep with your head propped on extra pillows.
Reduce the Swelling
- Wrap an ice pack in a towel. Place it on your nose for 10 minutes, then remove for 10 minutes. Repeat.
- Don’t put pressure on the ice pack — you may hurt your nose.
- Put an ice pack or cold compress on your nose at least four times per day for the first 2 days after you get hurt.\
Technique of Nasal Bony Fractures
Consideration of Anesthesia
Many studies have been carried out looking at general anesthetic vs. local anesthesia for the reduction of nasal fractures.[rx] The main concerns regarding cooperativeness should be assessed preoperatively. Pediatric patients pose additional challenges and should be done under general anesthetic. Most adults with type IIa to type IV fractures can be successfully reduced with a combination of topical and infiltrative local anesthesia.
Local Anaesthetic Reduction
Nasal fracture reduction with a combination of topical and local anesthetics, in an outpatient/office setting, is, in the majority of cases well-tolerated with regards to pain. Results are comparable to having it done under general anesthetic.[rx][rx] Topical agents can be applied with pledgets. The local anesthesia injection is infiltrated along the lateral aspects of the nasal bones, the premaxilla, and intranasally along the septum. Key injections to the infraorbital nerve, infratrochlear and V1 branch of trigeminal nerve can provide additional field blocks.[rx]
General Anaesthetic Reduction
The patient needs to be seen within 5 to 7 days of the injury to allow enough time for nasal swelling to settle.
Closed Reduction
This is the most straightforward approach, with success rates of 60% to 90%.[rx] it is usually reserved for simple noncomminuted fractures. The fundamental principle is to apply a force opposite to the vector of trauma to achieve fracture reduction. Depressed segments of nasal bone can be reduced using an elevator. Alternatively, Walsham’s forceps can be inserted into the nasal cavity and rotated laterally to out fracture the bones. A force in the opposing direction can digitally manipulate laterally displaced segments of the bony pyramid. Remember that sometimes with fractures the fracture line has to be widened first and then closed especially if bones are overriding each other. Attention should be paid to the nasal septum here, and where possible, the septal base should be repositioned into the vomerine groove. Patients should be prepared for the possibility that a future septorhinoplasty may be required with reoperation rates of 9% to 17%.[rx]
All nasal bone reductions should wear a dorsal splint for 7 days. Not only does it help hold bones in place but reminds the patient and others around them to be careful as the bones can quite easily displace again. Most closed reductions do not require internal splints, but they have been used in comminuted fractures, septal dislocation, and with inwardly collapsing nasal bones.
Open Reduction
Fractures that cannot be reduced by closed techniques are candidates for formal open reduction via an open septorhinoplasty.[rx][rx] Sometimes the injuries between bones and cartilages may be complex and fixing one without the other will leave the patient with ongoing nasal breathing issues. The greater exposure and direct visualization is a major benefit over closed reduction. One may need to wait 4 to 6 months after the initial injury to allow tissues to settle before formal open septorhinoplasty can be considered.
Surgery
Your doctor probably will choose this option if your nasal fracture is severe or has gone untreated for more than 2 weeks. The goal is to put your bones back in their proper place and reshape your nose, if necessary.
You’ll get pain medication for the procedure. You might also have to have nasal surgery to fix any breathing problems. In many cases, you can go home the day of surgery. But you may have to stay home for about a week due to swelling and bruising.
Complications
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Septal hematoma
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Septal abscess
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Avascular necrosis of nasal septal cartilage leading to saddle deformity
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Nasal obstruction
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Blowout fractures: Extraocular muscle entrapment and diplopia
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Nasolacrimal duct injury: Due to the close relationship of the duct to the nasal bones
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Fracture of cribriform plate and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea
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Inability to reduce: Fractures that cannot be reduced by closed techniques are candidates for open reduction.[rx]
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Airway compromise and hemorrhage.[rx]
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Nasofrontal duct and or lacrimal duct disruption as a result of direct damage or due to displaced fracture segments.[rx]
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Facial deformity, as full correction of telecanthus or nasal depression can be difficult to achieve, and some patients will retain a degree of asymmetry. Depending on the surgical approach, patients may experience temporary or permanent paralysis and or anesthesia of the forehead. Scars that cannot be hidden in the hairy scalp or skin folds may be prominent.[rx]
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Infection of the incision site, soft tissues, and meninges are recognized complications from these injuries.[rx]
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Mucocele formation is a complication of sinus or lacrimal drainage disruption and can become infected.[rx]
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Mental health, as patients with facial injuries are at greater risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety-related disorders. Particularly those who were victims of assault.[rx]
