Orbital floor fractures are generally the result of blowout orbital and may be associated with orbital emphysema leading to proptosis and even to loss of vision. A 49-year-old woman fractured the orbital floor in a fall. After blowing her nose, she developed exophthalmos and severe reduction in vision. She consulted our department and underwent emergency surgical management with orbital drainage. Decompression led to immediate resolution of the exophthalmos and postoperative improvement in visual acuity. Urgent decompression is indicated by the presence of proptosis, elevated intraocular pressure, and progressive loss of vision in cases of orbital trauma with additional emphysema. Surgical treatment of tension emphysema includes lateral canthotomy or cantholysis, needle aspiration, transconjunctival, or lateral blepharoplasty approach, and bone decompression depending on the severity of the case. Sneezing or blowing the nose can lead to proptosis and decreased visual acuity secondary to trauma to the orbit. Under such circumstances, emergency decompression is essential.

A 44-year-old man was referred to our department with diplopia, periorbital swelling and haematoma of the left eye after orbital trauma due to a punch. During the examination, mild enophthalmos, hypertropia and a total absence of infraduction were observed. An orbital computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a left orbital floor blow-out fracture, with caudal herniation of periorbital fat and rectus inferior muscle. Repair was performed under total anaesthesia with placement of a Titan mesh. The following days were marked by the persistence of diplopia without improvement of infraduction. A postoperative, 0.5 mm CT scan highlighted a complete rupture of the inferior rectus muscle, not seen before operation, by a 1.0 mm-sliced CT. In this case, orthoptic therapy was undertaken with good results after 6 months and without need of a second repair.

Subcutaneous emphysema is a rare complication in oral surgery. In most cases, it resolves spontaneously. However, air might disperse into deeper facial spaces causing life-threatening complications such as compression of the tracheobronchial tree or the development of pneumomediastinum. Moreover, microorganisms might spread from the oral cavity into deeper spaces. Hence, rapid diagnosis of subcutaneous emphysema is important. Characteristic signs are both a shiftable swelling and crepitation. In this case report, a 30-year-old man, suffering from the Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome, with a distinct subcutaneous emphysema after bilateral surgical wisdom tooth extraction is presented. Induced by a specific motor tic, air accumulated from the periorbital through to the parapharyngeal region. Applying a 10-cm-long Redon drainage tube as air valve, 10 days after wisdom teeth extraction, the patient was asymptomatic with complete resolution of the emphysema.

Aim: Head and neck region reconstructions are often delicate procedures that require different solutions at different layers. The use of chimeric flaps offers the interesting characteristic of combining different tissues, which is extremely valuable in this setting. In the present work, we share our experience with different types of conventional flaps, such as the radial flap, the medial sural artery perforator flap, and the fibula osteocutaneous flap. Methods: Over the last year, a series of five patients received advanced head and neck defects reconstruction employing chimeric flaps. The patients included two females and three males, with the mean age of 68-year-old. The defect was in four cases due to radical tumor resection in the oromandibular region. The fifth case was an osteoradionecrosis which needed a complete resection of the affected soft and bony tissue. Results: All five patients were successfully treated. Two of them received a chimeric free flap composed of multiple skin islands while the other three also comprised bone tissue transfer for mandible reconstruction. The mean follow-up period was ten months (range 3-8 months), and during this period neither postoperative complications nor signs of disease relapse were noted.