ORBITAL AND TRANSORBITAL STAB WOUNDS

Abstract

IT IS NOT rare for orbital stab wounds to become fatal if no specific intervention is made. This is due to the common occurrence of additional, transorbital complications. Nevertheless, no particular attention has been paid to this type of lesion; in the ophthalmological and neurosurgical literature the contributions to the discussion of the subject are usually confined to case reports. It is characteristic of these lesions that the external wound is small and that the track of the stabbing instrument is long and narrow, with an irregular course, due to transient displacement of the tissue at the moment of injury. The commoner complications are hemorrhage and infection. Stab wounds may readily result in an external closure of the wound and retention of secretion, so that favorable conditions may develop for the growth of anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium tetani. Orbital stab wounds may be caused by pitchforks, pencils, twigs, etc.,