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Case Reports
. 2022 Mar 4:76:103471.
doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.103471. eCollection 2022 Apr.

A challenging case of an intraorbital foreign body in a child: A case report

Nadia Ben Abdessalem  1   2 , Nesrine Zaafrane  1   2 , Ahmed Jabri  1   2 , Fedi Sahraoui  1   2 , Atf Ben Abderrazek  1   2 , Anis Mahjoub  1   2 , Arij Dlensi  1   2 , Anis Ayadi  3   2 , Hachemi Mahjoub  1   2 , Ahmed Mahjoub  1   2
Affiliations
Case Reports

A challenging case of an intraorbital foreign body in a child: A case report

Nadia Ben Abdessalem et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Apart from congenital causes, orbital trauma is a leading cause of unilateral vision loss in children. We report the case of a 2-year-old child who was victim of an orbital trauma of the right eye caused by a ballpoint pen. He consulted us the day after the trauma with significant palpebral edema making the examination difficult. An emergency CT scan of the orbit and brain showed the presence of a right intraorbital foreign body. The patient underwent removal of the foreign body by an anterior orbitotomy with general antibiotic therapy and a simple postoperative course. Penetrating trauma to the orbit should raise the suspicion of the presence of a foreign body. A CT scan should be performed to specify its location. The extraction of the foreign body can be a challenge that requires an experienced surgical team.

Keywords: Anterior orbitotomy; CT scan; Case report; Child; Intraorbital foreign body.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest exists. We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frontal photograph of the child showing edema, ecchymosis, and a right upper palpebral wound.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Non-injected CT image in coronal, sagittal and frontal sections showing a metallic foreign body contacting the upper wall of the orbit with pneumobitis.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Operative view during anterior orbitotomy through the initial wound.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The metallo-plastic foreign body removed during surgery.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Frontal photograph of the child during the control examination.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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