Back to Journals » Clinical Ophthalmology » Volume 7
Orbital, subconjunctival, and subcutaneous emphysema after an orbital floor fracture
Authors Ababneh OH
Received 1 March 2013
Accepted for publication 28 March 2013
Published 5 June 2013 Volume 2013:7 Pages 1077—1079
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S44649
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 3
Osama H Ababneh
Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Jordan and Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan
Abstract: A 16-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with the complaint of a sudden, painful left eye and proptosis after an episode of sneezing. A few hours earlier, he had sustained a blunt trauma to the left orbit as the result of a fistfight. The initial examination showed subcutaneous and subconjunctival emphysema. Visual acuity in the left eye was 20/30 (0.67), the pupils were reactive with no relative afferent pupillary defect, and there were mild limitations in levoduction and supraduction. A slit-lamp examination showed normal anterior and posterior segments with an intraocular pressure of 26 mmHg. An orbital computed tomography scan showed orbital, subconjunctival, and subcutaneous emphysema associated with a small fracture of the orbital floor. Following conservative management with broad-spectrum oral antibiotics, a topical antiglaucoma drug, and lubricating eye drops, the patient improved dramatically within one week.
Keywords: emphysema, orbital fracture, trauma
© 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.