Orbital Compartment Syndrome despite Significant Traumatic Expansion of the Orbital Cavity

Abstract

Periorbital injury can present with various permutations of bone trauma, soft-tissue edema, and hematomas that might involve proptosis and restricted motility. We report a case of a 32-year-old patient who sustained a traumatic orbital compartment syndrome simultaneously with a large, significantly displaced, orbital-floor blow-out fracture. Clinical signs consistent with both conditions were elicited. The initial management was as for orbital compartment syndrome. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed with computed tomographic imaging. This is an unusual and unexpected presentation. It would be expected that a hemorrhage would self-decompress in the presence of a large fracture. Physicians should be aware that such a combination of pathology might arise. Physicians likely to encounter periocular trauma should be prepared for its management: urgent lateral canthotomy and cantholysis. Differential diagnoses of periocular trauma are compared and contrasted.