Fractured Nasal Bone

Description

Viewed in lateral profile, the anterior nasal skeleton is emphasized against the surrounding craniofacial bones, with the nasal bone fragments clustered along the internasal (midline) suture and bordering the frontonasal suture superiorly. The fracture line extends toward the frontal process of the maxilla, immediately anterior to the lacrimal bone and medial orbital rim, with the nasal cavity opening posterior to the fracture site. Deep to the nasal bones, the cartilaginous nasal septum (septal cartilage) continues posteriorly to the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid and vomer, forming the medial wall that separates right and left nasal cavities. Comminution is obvious. A lateral skull view is where you can correlate external nasal deformity with potential septal injury and airway compromise, because dorsal displacement of nasal bone fragments often tracks with buckling of the upper lateral cartilage and septal cartilage just inferior and posterior to the fracture. Septal hematoma is the clinical miss in acute nasal trauma, and this depiction supports teaching why urgent inspection and drainage matter before cartilage necrosis produces a saddle nose deformity. The proximity to the medial orbital wall also makes the point that periorbital ecchymosis and epistaxis do not exclude isolated nasal bone fracture, while step-off at the nasomaxillary junction can suggest more complex midface injury patterns. Use this artwork in ENT and maxillofacial surgery teaching sets to explain closed reduction landmarks, postoperative splinting concepts, and the relationship between nasal bone fractures and septal deviation. It also fits emergency medicine lectures, anatomy lab supplements for the facial skeleton, and publisher figures on nasal trauma, epistaxis evaluation, and complications of untreated septal hematoma. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.