A rare case in a dog of intraorbital foreign body with late signs of cornea penetration - presenting initially as anterior uveitis

Abstract

An unusual case is presented of an unsuspected orbital metallic foreign body (sewing needle) in a dog. The skin entrance wound injury was undetected during two clinical examinations, likely due to the quick skin healing and punctiform nature of the wound in the skin/muscles/orbit. The most unusual characteristic of this case is the cause of the wound. The metallic foreign body could have penetrated the cornea through an oblique limbal/scleral pathway at the moment of injury, leaving no obvious signs of corneal injury in the first clinical examination. Secondly, the corneal injury perhaps occurred due to the dog rubbing its head on the floor between the initial examination and the first follow-up examination after seven days. At first, the case presented as anterior uveitis with an unknown cause. Due to quick scar formation of wounds in dogs and the fact that punctiform wounds can be difficult to detect, an orbital foreign body was not initially suspected. However, seven days afterwards, a new sign of triangular limbus-based corneal opacification appeared. This led to suspicion of a previous corneal injury and the nearby (orbital) presence of a foreign body. This diagnosis was confirmed by radiography and the intraorbital sewing needle was extracted by surgery. Lack of sophisticated techniques did not prevent an adequate diagnosis and an excellent surgical outcome.

Keywords

• anterior uveitis
• corneal penetration
• foreign body
• intraorbital