Orbital abscess: 20 years’ experience at a tertiary eye care center

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To study the clinical, microbiological profile and management outcomes of orbital abscess at a tertiary care center in South India.

Material and Method

In a retrospective interventional case series, we reviewed all patients diagnosed with orbital cellulitis from 2000–2020. The data analyzed included demographic profile, clinical and radiological features, microbiological profile, and management outcome.

Results

A total of 921 cases of orbital and periorbital infections were reviewed. Seventy-two cases were diagnosed as orbital cellulitis. Thirty-four cases (47.22%) had radiological evidence of orbital abscess. The median age was 20.63 years. Three patients (8.82%) were neonates. A male preponderance was noted (23, 67.65%). Sinusitis (10, 29.41%) and diabetes (5, 14.7%), were the most common predisposing factors. Optic neuropathy was seen in 15 (44.11%) patients, cavernous sinus thrombosis in two patients (5.88%), and septicemia in one patient (2.94%) Multiple orbital abscesses were noted in 7 (20.59%) cases. All patients underwent surgical drainage. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism isolated in 14 patients (41.18%). Vision improvement or stabilization was seen in all except 3 (8.82%)

Conclusion

Orbital abscess is a potential sight-threatening orbital infection. The infective process can spread and ascend up to involve cavernous sinus thereby becoming life-threatening. A timely diagnosis and intervention can halt the disease process and help restore vision in many cases.

KEYWORDS:

• Orbital abscess
• orbital cellulitis
• orbital infection

Acknowledgments

Mr. Viswanathan Natarajan^, Biostatistician, Sankara Nethralaya, Medical Research Foundation, Chennai.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Authors’ Contributions and Authorship

MSA: Conception and design, interpretation of data and revising it critically for important intellectual content.

VB: Data collection, acquisition of data, analysis and writing up of the first draft of the paper.

VN: Acquisition of data, critically reviewed the article

BM: Acquisition of data, substantially revised and critically reviewed article

All authors met ICMJE recommendations.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.