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.

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.

tripod fracture

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

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.