Non-traumatic subperiosteal haematoma

Re: Reid JR, Rajak SN, Good CD, Brittain GP. Emesis-induced Sub-periosteal Haematoma: A Case Report. Orbit, 2014; 33(3): 226–228

It was with some dismay that I read this case report of non-traumatic subperiosteal haematoma (NTSOH) occurring after vomiting, which claims this to be a very rare event, with the authors able to identify only 7 previously recorded cases of NTSOH in the setting of vomiting or a sudden rise in cranial venous pressure due to valsalva manoeuvre.1 The authors fail to reference by far the largest series of 9 cases of NTSOH, which we published in 2001.2 In this series, 6 of the 9 cases were due to vomiting or other causes of a sudden rise in cranial venous pressure. Strangely, their own References 2 and 3 cite our article, so clearly they have not performed an adequate literature review.

Additionally, I have recently published a review article on non-traumatic orbital haemorrhage, which, to be fair, was probably not in print when the authors submitted their case report, although it was published electronically in December 2013. However, in that review I was able to identify 33 cases of NTSOH occurring in the setting of a sudden rise in cranial venous pressure, 11 of these after vomiting, and the others in various settings such as child birth, scuba diving, strangulation, or weightlifting.3 These 33 cases could be found by standard means of literature review.

Clearly, NTSOH due to a sudden rise in venous pressure is not as rare as claimed by the authors of this case report. Authors and reviewers in peer-reviewed journals owe the authors of previously published papers the duty of performing an appropriately thorough literature review. A simple starting point after doing a Medline search is to examine the bibliography of any papers found. If this had been done in this instance, the error might have been much smaller.