Complex Anterior Skullbase Fracture Caused by a Bottle Cap: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

We report a case of foreign body presence in the ethmoid sinus cavity with anterior skull base fracture and visual loss. A 42-year-old male had an uncertain history of trauma and a penetrating wound near the left medial canthus. Computed tomography imaging showed a 3.0-cm bottle cap penetrating into the anterior skull base. He underwent foreign body removal, canalicular repair, ethmoidectomy, and cerebrospinal fluid leakage repair using packing material. Six months after the initial surgery, a second-stage operation for blow-out fracture repair was performed. At the 18-month postoperative follow-up from the initial surgery, the patient had no complaints except anosmia. This is a very rare case of a large, blunt, foreign body penetrating into the anterior skull base without long-term complications after successful removal and skull base repair. Simultaneous repair of cerebrospinal fluid leakage, management of canaliculi injury, and traumatic optic nerve neuropathy should be considered in such cases.