A Case of Facial Trauma Caused by a Metal Wire

Abstract

We reported a case of facial trauma caused by a metal wire. A 40-year-old man who had been under treatment for alchoholism stumbled and fell. At that time, he injured the left side of his face on a metal object. A foreign body thrust into his lower left eye lid, through the left maxillary sinus and reached the left parotid gland. There was no disturbance of vision or eye movement but there was the left facial paralysis in the lower jaw area. X-rays revealed that the end of the wire was bent back like a fish hook and pressed into the left lower branch of the facial nerve at the parotid gland. At surgery, the facial nerve was exposed and the wire was removed from the wound. Facial paralysis recovered after surgery.