Trauma to the cranial nerves

Cranial nerve injury is often an overlooked aspect of neurotrauma, which is diagnosed later in the course of recovery. Most of these injuries do not require active intervention in the acute stage. Cranial nerve injuries are important cause of morbidity, which requires long-term management, repeated surgical procedures or reconstructive measures. Management of optic nerve injury remains controversial, and injury to lower cranial nerves may influence the ultimate outcome due to paralysis of aerodigestive passage. Cranial nerve injury in the setting of head injury should be diagnosed early, so that appropriate treatment can be planned early.