Diagnosis and Management of Orbital Cellulitis in a Reference Center in Senegal

Abstract

The severity of orbital cellulitis is the risk of blindness and cerebro-meningeal complications that can be life-threatening. The objective of our study was to report the clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and progressive aspects of orbital cellulitis. This was a retrospective, descriptive study over 5-year, from 1st January 2017 to December 31st 2021, in the ophthalmology department of Aristide le Dantec University Hospital. We glued 102 patients. The incidence was 32.8 cases per year. The average age was 23 years, the age group from 0 to 15 years was the most representative (49%). The most frequent reason for consultation was eyelid swelling (87%). There was a predominance of preseptal cellulitis (64%). An ORL etiology was found in 21.5% of cases. Orbital-cerebral CT was performed in 57 patients. It made this possible to classify cellulite and identify sinusitis in 21.6% of cases. All patients received antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy were combined 48 hours after the start of treatment in 41 patients. The evolution was favorable in 73.5% of cases. Ten patients (9.8%) presented a complication. We aim for 3 cases of blindness. Death occurred in a patient who presented a bilateral orbital cellulitis complicated by cavernous sinus thrombophlebitis. The prognosis depends on the delay in treatment, the stage of the disease and the existence of comorbidity factors.