Increase in orbital volume obtained by decompression in dried skulls.

We totally or partially removed the medial wall, floor, lateral wall, or a combination of the three, in four orbits and measured the increased orbital volume that results from the more common orbital decompression techniques. Removal of medial wall alone added 6 cc of volume to the orbit. Removing the floor of the orbit while preserving bone lateral to the infraorbital groove added 7 cc of volume. Removing the lateral floor added 1 cc and removing the lateral wall added 2 cc. Effective lateral decompression, therefore, requires creation of space within the temporal fossa. Removing the wall and the medial floor together added 13 and 14 cc of volume in two separate skulls. The largest volume gained by orbital decompression was 15 cc. This occurred when the entire orbital floor and medial wall were removed. Little volume is lost, however, when the lateral floor is preserved.