Traumatic petrous temporal bone fractures are calvarial injuries of high impact trauma. In addition to intracranial injuries, they can be associated with significant disabling sequelae that may have long-term functional consequences on patients including facial nerve palsies, conductive/ sensorineural hearing losses and vertiginous symptoms.
Early identification and interventions conducted by a multidisciplinary trauma team are essential for these injuries to minimise their potential impact on the patient and optimise their journey to recovery, both in the immediate hospital period as well as in the outpatient followup setting.
A case of a 31 year old male who sustained a right petrous temporal bone fracture associated with hearing loss and a delayed right sided facial nerve palsy following a high impact motor vehicle trauma will be presented. His clinical course will be explored as well as the multidisciplinary team approach taken to investigate and manage his injuries. This will be followed by a review of the current literature to discuss the contemporary evidence around approaching traumatic temporal bone fractures and will be linked back to the patient's journey to recovery.