Aetiology

• Mechanism of injury - fight, sport, falls

Clinical features

Important questions to ask

• When trauma occurred
• Loss of consciousness
• Epistaxis
• Breathing

Signs

• Bruising, swelling
• Tenderness
• Deviation
• Epistaxis
• Infraorbital sensation
• Cranial nerve examination

Investigations

• Nasal fracture is a clinical diagnosis based on deviation
• Exclude septal haematoma
  • Stops blood supply getting to the cartilage
  • Must be drained to prevent nasal collapse
  • Can get infected and infection can spread into cranial cavity

Management