[Orbital emphysema due to perfluoropropane gas anesthesia in retinal surgery. A case report]

A 45 year old male was referred by the increasing volume of upper and lower eyelids with lost vision of his right eye after surgical procedure for recurrent retinal detachment. The surgery performed was a scleral buckle, vitrectomy and application of perfluoropropane gas to right eye. Ophthalmic examination: visual acuity of the right eye showed counting fingers 2 meters, soft tissue crepitating and proptosis. Anterior subconjuntival segment was infiltrated by gas, with normal intraocular pressure. CT scan shows gas in soft tissues. Because we did not find change in the intraocular pressure or damage to the optic nerve we did not propose surgical treatment. We managed conservatively considering that this gas tends to reabsorp totally as it occurred.