Pintail Comb Injury as a Rare Cause of Penetrating Temporal Bone Trauma With Facial Paralysis

Abstract

We present a case of novel penetrating temporal bone trauma with a pintail comb causing facial paralysis. We describe a 42-year-old woman with acute facial paralysis, hearing loss, and dizziness following accidental tympanic membrane puncture. The patient underwent middle ear exploration with tympanoplasty and was found to have an intact but severely edematous facial nerve. The patient demonstrated less than 90% degeneration under electroneuronography and was treated medically without decompression, and by 6 months had exhibited complete resolution of facial nerve dysfunction with normal hearing. This case report highlights a unique cause of penetrating temporal bone trauma and supports the utility of electroneuronography in predicting the likelihood of recovery and need for decompression in patients where the facial nerve has obvious signs of trauma but remains grossly intact.