Orbital trauma with a large plant foreign body: a case report.

We report a case of a large plant foreign body in the orbit. A 30-year-old male presented to our hospital 6 h after a penetrating orbital injury in his left superior eyelid when he skidded from his motorcycle while riding. When the patient reported to us, he already had an inability to open his left eye and a continuous pain in the left orbit. On examination, there was a large plant foreign body penetrating the nasal orbit through the left upper eyelid. Orbital CT revealed a low density linear foreign body measuring 3.6 x 0.5 cm in the left orbit. An emergency operation was performed to remove the foreign body. The patient's visual acuity did not recover satisfactorily due to optic nerve injury. This case highlights the fact that careful surgical removal of foreign bodies is the treatment of choice and that all patients should receive post-operative antibiotic therapy because of the high incidence of secondary orbital infections. The final outcome and prognosis depend greatly upon the composition and location of the foreign body and whether there are serious complications.