title: Transorbital intracranial penetrating injury from impaling on an earpick.
abstract: An inebriated 86-year-old man impaled himself on a wooden earpick that penetrated through the superior orbital fissure into the prepontine cistern. The patient underwent surgery immediately by a lateral suboccipital approach, and the earpick was pulled out through the wound with control of hemorrhage from the cavernous sinus. He survived this event with no neurologic deficits apart from complete ipsilateral ophthalmoplegia and ptosis. Prompt imaging and surgical intervention allowing direct visualization of the foreign body and prevention of intracranial complications are part of proper management of this problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Minamida
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugino
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koyanagi
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Kiyohiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Houkin
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005143:Eyelids / Q000293:injuries*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020197:Head Injuries, Penetrating / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D009915:Orbit / Q000293:injuries*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices