Cases of Orbital Cellulitis Revealing Neglected Intraocular Foreign Bodies

Background: Orbital cellulitis is defined as acute inflammatory orbital swelling of infectious origin. Most often secondary to sinusitis. Intraocular foreign bodies neglected because of their small size, or sometimes radio-transparent nature, can be difficult to diagnose even with radiology and be responsible for orbital cellulitis. We demonstrate the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties.

Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study of patients with unilateral orbital cellulitis revealing neglected intraocular foreign bodies, conducted in the Department of Adult Ophthalmology, Hospital August 20, 1953, involving 58 patients, from January 2015 until December 2020.

Results: The average age of the patients was 38.5 years. The most affected age group was between 21 and 30 years with a clear male predominance. A decrease in visual acuity was found in all patients (unilateral blindness 43%) and a cellulitis complicated by a purulent melt (43%). All patients received medical treatment, including intravitreal injections of antibiotics in 71% of cases, and surgical treatment consisting of extraction of the foreign body and immediate evisceration of the eyeball in 25% of cases.

Conclusion: Orbital cellulitis, although mostly secondary to sinusitis, can reveal various etiologies such as intra-orbital foreign bodies that can go unnoticed and be life-threatening and functionally damaging, especially when the diagnosis is made late and management is inappropriate. The presence of an intraocular foreign body must be suspected in all cases of orbital trauma associated with a palpebral wound, even if it is minimal, or in the presence of a clinical aggravation. Any delay in diagnosis and/or treatment can lead to serious complications that can affect the functional and even vital prognosis. The surgical treatment consists of the extraction of the foreign body. The recourse to evisceration in our context unfortunately continues to persist at high rates; because of the delay of consultation and thus of the management.