Complicated skull base fracture

The situation is different for a complicated fracture, i.e. when the individual fragments are shifted against each other. Then an operation should be performed to bring the fragments back into their correct position and to stabilize them with plates, wires and/or screws if necessary. After the surgical procedure, patients must remain in the hospital for a few days to weeks to be observed. Afterwards, it may take longer at home until patients feel completely fit again, since an operation on the skull is always a major operation and the body needs some time to recover. Therefore, one should not put oneself under stress for a long time after such an operation.

Accompanying Violations

If the nose is also broken, surgery is often performed. It should also be noted here that even before the operation or afterwards, there may be a reduction or loss of the ability to smell, which also affects the taste. Usually these limitations recover over time, although those affected should exercise patience here.

Occasionally, it also happens that these impairments do not fully recover. If nerve cords have been damaged by a fracture of the base of the skull, sensory disturbances or paralysis may occur, depending on which nerve cord was injured. Since nerves grow back very slowly, it often takes several weeks before they can perform their original function again.

In addition, this often requires consistent physiotherapy or rehabilitation time. If the auditory canal is injured in the course of a skull base fracture, hearing disorders may occur.Some of these patients require surgical treatment, which is followed by a longer rehabilitation process. In some cases, however, they also lead to permanent hearing loss or hearing impairment.

An extremely serious variant of the skull base fracture is when the brain is also affected. If there is a major brain hemorrhage, surgery must be performed quickly to relieve the high pressure caused by the blood. In such patients, permanent damage to the brain may occur, resulting in paralysis, sensitivity disorders and/or cognitive impairment. In any case, healing of these complications requires a long-term rehabilitation process. In some cases, residual symptoms may even last a lifetime.