Isolated Styloid Process Fracture of the Temporal Bone: A Rare Assault-Related Injury

TL;DR

This paper discusses a rare injury, an isolated fracture of the styloid process in the temporal bone, caused by physical assault and highlights the importance of advanced CT imaging for accurate diagnosis.

Contribution

The paper presents a rare case of an isolated styloid process fracture and emphasizes the role of multiplanar and 3D-CT imaging in its diagnosis.

Findings

Isolated styloid process fractures are uncommon and often overlooked in clinical practice.

Multiplanar and 3D-CT reformatted images are crucial for identifying such fractures without accompanying maxillofacial injuries.

The case highlights the need for a high index of clinical suspicion to diagnose this rare injury.

Abstract

Traumatic fractures of the styloid process of the temporal bone, whether related to assault or not, are uncommon injuries and rarely encountered as an isolated entity. The rarity of these fractures often leads to their being overlooked and misdiagnosed. Diagnosing an isolated styloid process fracture requires a high index of clinical suspicion and meticulous evaluation of computed tomography (CT) images. However, it would be challenging without an accompanying maxillofacial fracture. In this report, we present an isolated traumatic fracture of the styloid process in a patient admitted to the emergency department with physical assault and highlight the significance of the multiplanar and three-dimensional (3D)-CT reformatted images.

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