[Orbital cellulitis in childhood. Medical-surgical treatment]

Orbital cellulitis is an uncommon complication resulting from a spectrum of disorders commonly found in pediatric practice. It usually occurs as a complication of infection of the paranasal sinuses, although it also can be caused by eyelid or dental juries, dental infection and external ocular infection. We studied the clinical, microbiological, and therapeutic features of 152 children diagnosed as periorbital cellulitis and 27 children with orbital cellulitis admitted to our hospital in a 16-year period from January 1983 to December 1998. Twenty-four percent of patients (43 cases) had positive cultures. Thirty children with septal or preseptal cellulitis developed neurological or ophthalmological complications. Intravenous or oral antibiotic administration was effective in 150 patients, but a significant proportion required surgery of the paranasal sinus or orbit (16%).