The “Devil's Touch”; Visual Loss and Orbital Surgery. A Synopsis of the Mustardé Lecture, 2006

Abstract

Visual loss is a devastating complication after orbital surgery, particularly that at the orbital apex or alongside the optic nerve. The clinical characteristics of 14 such patients, representing less than 1% of orbital surgery performed, are presented and the possible mechanisms discussed. The majority of patients suffered a posterior ischaemic optic neuropathy and this is likely to be related to postoperative vasospasm induced by extravasated blood and inflammatory mediators.

KEYWORDS:

• Orbital surgery
• visual impairment
• postoperative blindness
• orbital tumors
• intraconal lesions
• optic neuropathy
• orbital vasculature
• intra-orbital pressure