Buttress | Notes |
Lateral Maxillary (yellow) | Includes the lateral walls of orbit, maxillary sinus |
Medial Maxillary (purple) | Includes medial orbital, lateral nasal walls |
Posterior Maxillary (pink) | Includes pterygoid plates |
Posterior Vertical (orange) | |
Upper Transverse Maxillary (blue) | Includes the orbital floor |
Lower Transverse Maxillary (green) | Includes the hard palate |
Upper Transverse Mandibular (magenta) | |
Lower Transverse Mandibular (orange) |
Naso-orbito-ethmoid (NOE) fractures: confluence of upper transverse maxillary and medial maxillary buttresses.
Zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) fractures: upper transverse maxillary and lateral maxillary buttresses.
Le Fort fractures: All involve posterior maxillary.
Le Fort 1 involves inferior portions of lateral and medial maxillary buttresses.
Le Fort 2 involves inferior lateral maxillary, superior medial maxillary buttresses.
Le Fort 3 involves upper transverse maxillary, superior lateral and medial maxillary buttresses.
References:
Hopper, R. A., et al. (2006). “Diagnosis of Midface Fractures with CT: What the Surgeon Needs to Know.” Radiographics 26(3): 783-793.
Gruss, J. S. and S. E. Mackinnon (1986). “Complex maxillary fractures: role of buttress reconstruction and immediate bone grafts.” Plast Reconstr Surg 78(1): 9-22.