Abstract: PURPOSE : To investigate the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive internal fixation of zygomatic fractures. METHODS : Seventy-one cases of zygomatic fractures in our hospital from June 2005 to June 2013 were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent open reduction and internal micro-titanium fixation via oral route, while the control group had micro-titanium plate fixation under direct vision via the coronal incision. The nasal, temporal movement on the injured side after 3 months, the mouth opening and the degree of enophthalmos in the 2 groups before and after surgery were compared. The clinical efficacy and incidence of postoperative complications in 2 groups of patients after 6 months were compared. The data was statistically analyzed using SPSS 18.0 software package. RESULTS : The degree of temporal and nasal movement at the injured side 3 months after surgery were significantly lower than those before surgery (P<0.01). The degree of temporal and nasal movement at the injured side 3 months after surgery in the experimental group were significantly lower than control group (P<0.01). The degree of enophthalmos 3 months after surgery was significantly greater than before surgery, while the degree of retraction was significantly less than that before surgery (P<0.01). The degree of mouth opening in the experimental group 3 months after surgery was significantly greater than that in the control group, the degree of enophthalmos was significantly less than the control group (P<0.01). The clinical efficacy of the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group 6 months after surgery (P<0.05). Incidence of postoperative complications in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS : Minimally invasive internal fixation of the zygomatic fractures via oral route has minor trauma, good clinical efficacy and lower postoperative complication rate, which is worthy of clinical application.

Key words: Zygomatic fracture, Minimally invasive surgery, Internal fixation, Coronal incision