Trauma of Ear

The ear is located on both sides of the skull and mainly consists of temporal bone, which is one of the important structures forming the lateral skull base. Trauma of ear is usually a part of craniocerebral trauma. While paying attention to craniocerebral trauma, we should notice if it is accompanying the temporal bone injury. Intracranial complications can also occur if temporal bone trauma is not treated in time. Transverse fractures of temporal bone are more commonly associated with facial nerve paralysis (approx. up to 50%) than longitudinal fractures (approx. up to 20%), but the longitudinal fracture is more common, accounting for about 70%–80% of temporal bone fracture. There are two weak areas in the temporal bone, which are prone to form transverse fractures. The first is internal acoustic meatus where the fractures can cause facial nerve injury and cochlear fracture; the second is the cochlear canaliculus where the fracture can result in cochlear fracture.