Post-traumatic bilateral longitudinal temporal bone fracture with bilateral facial nerve palsy: a rare case

Abstract

Facial paralysis is a potentially disabling complication of temporal bone fractures. Although unilateral palsy is commonly encountered, bilateral facial nerve palsy is rare, especially in post-traumatic situations. Other recognised causes of bilateral facial palsy are neurologic, infectious, neoplastic, idiopathic or metabolic disorders. A 25-year-old male patient presented with difficulty in talking, eating and closing eyes for 15 days since a post-vehicular accident. CT of skull showed bilateral longitudinal temporal bone fractures. Bilateral facial palsy was confirmed by clinical and topodiagnostic tests. Patient was given a course of steroids which led to an early improvement on left side followed by a delayed right-sided improvement at 6 months.