Abstract
Background and objectives: The orbital complication of paranasal sinusitis is rare, but any delay in diagnosis may leads to visual loss and is life threatening. Periorbital cellulitis primarily affects the young children. This study was conducted to evaluate the treatment outcomes.
Materials and Methods : In this case series, 42 consecutive patients with orbital cellulitis secondary to sinusitis in two University-Hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences managed from June 1998 to Feb 2001were reviewed.Visual acuity with correction, clinical signs, methods of paraclinical and treatment were through a questionnaire. All Patients had similar findings: periorbital edema, erythema , proptosis and pain.
Results: Fifty seven point one percent of patients were male and 42.9 percent were female. The patients’age ranged from 7 months to 68 years ( 50.1% were under ten years). Thirty three cases received medical and surgical treatments. The most common involved sinuses were maxillary and ethmoid (18 patients). After treatment, 78.6 percent of patients acquired complete recovery in the first week with penicillin G and metronidazole.
Conclusion :Orbital cellulitis treated with antibiotics, but subperiosteal abscess is usually treated by incision and drainage and parentral antibiotics. CT and MRI commonly used in the diagnosis of orbital infections. Orbital cellulitis is a relatively common and potentially serious disease in children. Early surgical intervention is indicated if there is a risk of visual loss, or if no improvement is observed within 48 hours of starting medical therapy.