Peri-orbital foreign body: a case report

Abstract

Introduction: Foreign bodies inside the orbital cavity are rare. They can cause more or less serious complications, depending on their nature and size.

Case presentation: We report a case of a work-related accident involving a peri-orbital foreign body. The patient was a 50-year-old Caucasian man whose face was injured on the right side while he was working with an agricultural machine. On admission, he was fully conscious and did not have any neurological deficits. He had no loss of vision or ocular motility, but had a laceration of the lateral side of his right upper eyelid. A computed tomographic scan revealed a 6-cm-long bended metal object lodged in the lateral bulbar space of the right orbit. The patient recovered well after surgery and a course of antibiotic therapy.

Conclusion: The original aspects of this case are the singularity of the foreign body and its relative harmlessness in spite of its large size.

Figure 1

Cranial X-rays and some axial sections of the computed tomographic scan.

Figure 2

Intra-operative images of the foreign body.

Figure 3

Patient after surgery.