Direct injury of the oculomotor nerve in craniocerebral trauma

✓ Twelve cases with direct injury of the oculomotor nerve are presented. The clinical symptoms resemble those of an oculomotor nerve lesion associated with an expanding supratentorial mass lesion with uncal herniation. The clinical signs and mechanism of injury are discussed. The importance of early differentiation of the third nerve injury due to direct trauma from that of an expanding supratentorial mass lesion is emphasized, since conservative treatment of cases due to direct injury is preferable to operation.