Simple Computed Tomography-Based Calculations of Orbital Floor Fracture Defect Size Are Not Sufficiently Accurate for Clinical Use

The geometric formulas estimated OF defect area with good but, in the authors' opinion, clinically unacceptable accuracy. Although highly sensitive, the formulas lacked specificity and tended to overestimate true defect sizes in most cases. Using rapid, simple geometric methods to assess the sizes of OF defects may lead to inappropriate surgical decisions. Thus, the most accurate estimation of OF defect size still requires the calculation of average defect length from coronal computed tomographic images, knowledge of slice thickness, and knowledge of the number of slices involved.