Preseptal Cellulitis and Orbital Cellulitis: A 5-year Review of Patients seen at Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta

Orbit And Oculoplasty

Abstract

Introduction: Orbital cellulitis is a life threatening infection involving soft tissues of the orbit posterior to the orbital septum, while preseptal cellulitis involves soft tissues of the eyelids and periocular region anterior to the orbital septum. It occurs in any age group  but mostly children[1] . Sinusitis is the commonest cause of orbital cellulitis, while external ocular infection/trauma is the commonest for preseptal cellulitis. The common causative agent in preseptal is Staph. aureus while Strept. pn. in orbital cellulitis[1] .  Preseptal  cellulitis and orbital cellulitis could be continuum particularly in children. In Chandler’s classification of orbital complication of sinusitis, preseptal and orbital cellulitis fall into groups I and II respectively[2].

Methods: Age, sex and aetiological factors of patients seen between January 2010 and December 2014 were carefully analysed.

Results: Of the 9,552 patients seen for different ocular conditions, 117 (1.22%) had preseptal cellulitis or orbital cellulitis, 85 (72.16%)  had preseptal while 32 (27.35%) had orbital cellulitis. The age range was between 1 month and 50 years with mean age of 12.36 years  while number of patients below 19 years was 92 (78.63%). Male (81) to female (36) ratio was 2.25:1 Approximately 43% of cases of orbital cellulitis were secondary to upper respiratory tract infections (Figure 1). Face and eyelid trauma was the cause in 47.4% of cases  of preseptal cellulitis (Figure 2).