Management and complications of bacterial periorbital and orbital cellulitis.

Forty-four patients with periorbital cellulitis or abscess were admitted to the hospital for treatment in a five-year period. Twenty-five patients were less than 5 years old; nine were more than 20 years old. Skin infection or trauma, upper respiratory tract infection, and sinusitis were the most common predisposing causes. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured in 13 patients and Haemophilus influenzae in nine patients. Ampicillin and methicillin were the chief antibiotics used. Ten patients required surgical drainage.