What It Is
Orbital cellulitis is a serious infection affecting the tissues surrounding the eye within the bony eye socket, extending deeper than the eyelid alone.
How It Develops
Orbital cellulitis most commonly develops as a complication of a nearby sinus infection, since the sinuses sit in close proximity to the eye socket, allowing infection to spread from one area to the other. It can also result from a nearby skin infection, dental infection, or an eye-area injury that allows bacteria to enter the tissue surrounding the eye. Because the infection involves the deeper tissue within the eye socket, it's generally considered more serious than a more superficial eyelid infection.
General Symptoms
Common symptoms of orbital cellulitis include swelling and redness around the eye, pain, particularly with eye movement, fever, and, in more significant cases, bulging of the eye or restricted eye movement. Vision changes can also occur in more severe cases, reflecting how directly the infection can affect the structures within the eye socket.
General Treatment Approaches
Orbital cellulitis is generally treated as a serious infection requiring prompt medical attention, commonly involving antibiotic treatment, often administered intravenously given the potential seriousness of the infection. In cases involving a collection of pus or a complication that doesn't respond adequately to antibiotics alone, surgical drainage may also be needed.
Background
Orbital cellulitis has been recognized as a serious complication of nearby infections, particularly sinus infections, since the close anatomical relationship between the sinuses and the eye socket became well understood through advances in anatomy and imaging over the 19th and 20th centuries. The development of effective antibiotics and, later, improved imaging technology to assess the extent of infection has considerably improved outcomes for this condition compared to earlier eras of medicine.