Globe Intussusception Following Orbital Trauma: Case Series and Review of Literature

The aim of this paper is to report "Globe Intussusception" as an extreme form of globe dislocation outside the orbital pyramid, and provide a literature review. A single-center, retrospective, interventional case series of three patients is presented. A review of the English-language literature from the years 1971 to 2024 was performed using the search terms "traumatic globe dislocation", "maxillary sinus" and "ethmoid sinus". Three cases of globe intussusception are reported. Computed tomography imaging revealed orbital fracture, and globe prolapse into the maxillary sinus with or without involvement of ethmoid sinus. This was associated with complete intussusception of the globe through the conjunctiva, giving an "empty socket" appearance. In all three cases, fracture repair along with retrieval of the eyeball from the sinus was carried out surgically. Reduction of the intussusception, and bringing the eyeball out of the conjunctival pouch was a special additional challenge in these cases. The review of 35 cases reported in world literature till date is presented. We suggest retrieval of the intussuscepted eyeball via a 360° peritomy and suture tagging of extraocular muscles to ensure safe repositioning of globe with intact extraocular muscles.