Abstract

Forty-nine cases of orbital cellulitis were reviewed. The average age of patients at presentation was 31 years. The onset of symptoms varied from seven days or less in 28 patients, one to four weeks in 17 patients, and more than four weeks in four patients. The leucocyte count, available in 33 patients, was greater than 10 X 10(9)/l in only nine. Abnormal sinuses were noted radiographically in 61%. Computed tomography scans, performed on nine patients, revealed non-localised inflammation in three and an orbital mass in six. Cultures, in general, were disappointing. Seventeen surgical procedures were performed on 14 patients. The complications of orbital cellulitis, occurring in five patients, included osteomyelitis of the maxillary bone, strabismus, afferent pupillary defect, chronic draining sinus, and scarred upper eyelid. Usually the treatment of orbital cellulitis requires aggressive parenteral antibiotic therapy and judicious surgical intervention.