Removal of Orbital Metallic Foreign Bodies With Image-Guided Surgical Navigation

To describe the use of an image-guided 3-dimensional surgical navigation system for the removal of metallic foreign bodies from the human intraorbital region.

Between January 2016 and June 2019, 30 patients with metallic foreign bodies in the orbital area underwent image-guided 3-dimensional surgical navigational removal at the authors' center, and their data were retrospectively analyzed. Patients' age, gender, complaints, cause of initial injury, location, interval between injury, and surgery were recorded. Preoperative CT scans of the orbits were obtained and used for preoperative planning. The 3-dimensional navigation system was used for intraoperative navigation.

In all 30 patients, the foreign bodies were removed by minimally invasive access without any severe complications. The intraoperative average depth of foreign bodies was 19.98 ± 11.47 mm which was consistent with the depth measured in preoperative planning. The mean length, width, and height of foreign bodies determined in preoperative planning were confirmed by postoperative measurements. There was no significant difference between preoperative and postoperative mean logarithm of Mininal Angle Resolution (logMAR) best-corrected visual acuity. According to the postoperative CT scan, all 30 patients' metallic foreign bodies were successfully removed by surgeries using the surgical navigation system. Most patients who presented with diplopia, eye movement pain, and paresthesia were improved after surgery.

This study demonstrated that computer-assisted image-guided 3-dimensional surgical navigation had the advantages of accurate real-time localization of foreign bodies, minimizing collateral damage, determining the appropriate surgical path, and increasing the successful rate of foreign body retrieval.