Diagnosis, management and treatment of orbital and periorbital cellulitis in children

Abstract

Children with red swollen eyes frequently present to emergency departments. Some patients will have orbital cellulitis, a condition that requires immediate diagnosis and treatment. Orbital cellulitis can be confused with the less severe, but more frequently encountered, periorbital cellulitis, which requires less aggressive management. Delayed recognition of the signs and symptoms of orbital cellulitis can lead to serious complications such as blindness, meningitis and cerebral abscess. This article describes the clinical features, epidemiology and outcomes of the condition, and discusses management and treatment. It also includes a case study.

A Retrospective Study of Recurrent Bacterial Meningitis in Children: Etiology, Clinical Course, and Treatment

“…Patients with head injury have the highest risk of acquiring recurrent bacterial meningitis [ 38 ]. Delayed recognition of the signs and symptoms of orbital cellulitis can lead to severe complications such as meningitis, cerebral abscess, and blindness [ 40 ]. It is known that the interval between trauma/infection and the first episode of meningitis varies from a few hours to many years [ 1 , 2 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Extra-ocular Cysticercosis Mimicking Orbital Cellulitis

“…Few children will have serious pathologies such as orbital cellulitis, conjunctivitis, idiopathic orbital inflammatory disease, thyrotoxicosis, malignancies, and ocular cysticercosis. 1 Cysticercosis is a systemic parasitic infection caused by the larval form of cestode Taenia solium. It is endemic in regions with poor sanitation and occurs by ingesting the eggs of Taenia solium from contaminated food and water.…”

Celulitis preseptal y orbitaria

“…También se ha relacionado en casos de inadecuado tratamiento con complicaciones como una evolución hacia CO con absceso subperióstico, abscesos orbitarios y trombosis del seno cavernoso. 5,13 Con respecto a CO las complicaciones pueden incluir desde locales como enfermedad corneal, retinitis, uveítis, neuropatía óptica, endoftalmitis, ruptura globo ocular, abscesos orbitarios, abscesos subperiósticos hasta sistémicas como enfermedad intracraneal, trombosis de senos venosos, meningitis, sepsis, absceso cerebral hasta la muerte. 2,4,9,13 El absceso subperióstico es la complicación más frecuente de la CO. 10 Existe una clasificación de Chandler (Ver TABLA 1.2), la cual ordena las complicaciones orbitarias de la sinusitis en 5 categorías, en función de su clínica y su severidad.…”