to report a case of Intraorbital Penetrating Pencil Injury in a Child

case report

A 3-year-old girl was referred to our clinic in March 2014. According to her parents, a pencil went directly into her left orbit while she falling down. Slit lamp examination showed no damage to the anterior or posterior segment of the eye. She had no cooperation for visual acuity measurement. The foreign body was entered the orbit from the medial cantus. There was some ocular motility limitation. Orbital CT-scan was disclosed the hypodense object with high intensity core of the pencil compatible with the wooden and carbon parts of the pencil respectively. It was extended to the orbital cone and superior orbital fissure. After general anesthesia a limited peritomy was done and the pencil was taken out from the orbit. There was no cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. The patient was followed for 3 months after and no ocular or neurological damage were noticed.

A pencil can penetrate the orbit and extend to the intracranial tissues. In CT-scan it appears as a hypodense object with hyperdense central core. In this case the large foreign body (pencil) was penetrated the orbit without any ocular or cerebral damage.