title: A wooden foreign body penetrating the superior orbital fissure.
abstract: The case of a 12-year-old patient with a wooden foreign body which had penetrated the superior orbital fissure is presented. Using a transethmoidal approach, only some splinters lying in the periorbital soft tissue were removed. The patient became febrile, indicating an infectious complication due to a retained foreign body. This was confirmed by CT scan and MRI demonstrating a main splinter in the superior orbital fissure. Total removal of the wood was achieved via a pterional extradural approach. The difficulties of identifying wooden foreign bodies as well as the topographical problems involved with the approach to the superior orbital fissure are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tübingen.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zentner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hassler
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000601:surgery; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D015807:Eye Injuries, Penetrating / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D009915:Orbit / Q000293:injuries*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014934:Wood; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000601:surgery