Lateral canthotomy and cantholysis is a simple procedure that can be performed by emergency physicians. It has the potential to save vision, particularly in cases of blunt ocular trauma. The case of a 37-year-old man with blunt ocular trauma, a retrobulbar hemorrhage and rapidly increasing orbital pressure requiring an urgent lateral canthotomy and cantholysis is presented. Pathophysiology, ind...

The following case describes a 26-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with a nontrauamtic retrobulbar hematoma associated with warfarin toxicity. The application and limitations of focused bedside ocular sonography for this condition are discussed.

Purpose Ischemic ocular disorders may be treated by hypervolemic hemodilution. The presumed therapeutic benefit is based on a volume effect and improved rheological factors. The aim was to investigate the acute effect of intravenous hydroxyethyl starch on retrobulbar hemodynamics in patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). Methods 24 patients with acute NAION wer...

Color Doppler imaging (CDI) can be used to noninvasively create images of human blood vessels and quantitatively evaluate blood flow in real-time. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acupuncture on the blood flow of the peripheral, mesenteric, and retrobulbar arteries by CDI. Statistical significance was defined as P values less than 0.05. Blood flow in the radial and brachia...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between retrobulbar circulation and visual field change in eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma following unilateral trabeculectomy. METHODS Twenty-one patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were prospectively enrolled. Retrobulbar circulation was evaluated using color Doppler imaging. The peak systolic velocity, end...

This study examined whether the depletion of neuropeptides from sensory nerve terminals induced by capsaicin modifies the healing rate of experimental corneal wounds in adult rabbits. Capsaicin (33 or 3.3 mM solutions) was administered topically and/or by a single retrobulbar injection to one eye while the fellow eye, treated with the vehicle, served as a control. After 1-3 weeks of treatment, ...

Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare, rapidly progressive severe bacterial soft tissue infection with a high mortality rate. While necrotizing fasciitis classically involves the trunk, groin/perineum, lower limbs, and postoperative wound sites, primary involvement of the eyelids is a rare but well known entity. We present a 33-year-old female patient who developed periocular necrotizing fasciitis af...

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of antihypertensive drugs in essential hypertension and in the central retinal, posterior ciliary, and ophthalmic arteries by using Doppler sonography. METHODS Thirty patients with essential hypertension and 32 control subjects were enrolled in the study. The pulsatility and resistive indices were evaluated in the central retinal, posterior ciliary, and ophthalmi...

I describe a case of inadvertent inhalation anaesthesia during surgery under retrobulbar anaesthesia and its management. Some of the hazards of supplementary oxygen delivery during monitored anaesthetic care and the actions taken to prevent this mishap recurring are discussed.

Two rare cases of strabismus resulting from contracture of the extraocular rectus muscles after retrobulbar anesthesia for cataract surgery are described. Clinical signs in both cases suggested that the development of the impaired function of the lateral and superior rectus muscles followed the same pattern: initial stimulation followed by paretic and restrictive stages. Abnormal enlargement of...