tripod fracture

tri·pod frac·ture

a facial fracture involving the three supports of the malar prominence, the arch of the zygomatic bone, the zygomatic process of the frontal bone, and the zygomatic process of the maxillary bone.

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

tripod fracture

A popular term for a fracture that is actually a combination of four (not three, as the name implies) fractures:
(1) Maxillary sinus, with the involvement of the anterior and postero lateral walls and floor of the orbit;
(2) Zygomatic arch;
(3) Lateral orbital rim and orbital wall;
(4) At the suture between sphenoid and the zygomatic bones.
 
Aetiology
Lateral blunt force trauma to the malar region.

Clinical findings
Trismus, diplopia, loss of sensation in areas supplied by facial nerve, flattened malar eminence, bruising and oedema of the face, epistaxis.

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

tripod fracture

traumatology A complex maxillofacial fracture that affects the zygoma, orbit and maxilla

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

tri·pod frac·ture

(trī'pod frak'shŭr)

A facial fracture involving the three supports of the malar prominence: the arch of the zygomatic bone, the zygomatic process of the frontal bone, and the zygomatic process of the maxillary bone.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012