Abstract

We present a 47-year-old male with superior oblique (SO) tendon rupture that developed due to a broken metal hook while installing snow chains on his car. The patient presented to our clinic as an emergency for the right eye trauma and pain. The examination revealed a small cut in the right upper eyelid and an edematous tendinous structure that extended downwards through the conjunctival cut at the upper fornix. This structure was thought to be the SO tendon. Emergency exploration and SO tendon repair were performed under general anesthesia. The SO tendon was sutured to its own insertion region 5 mm in width and 5 mm behind a point 3 mm temporal to the superior rectus muscle. The conjunctiva was also repaired. There was 6 PD (prism diopter) right hypertropia and vertical diplopia on postoperative follow-up. The diplopia symptoms improved in the postoperative 3rd month. The patient had no diplopia at the 6th month follow-up but 4 PD hypertropia continued.

Key words: Trauma, superior oblique tendon rupture, surgical treatment