Transorbital penetrating cerebellar injury in a 10-year-old girl

Abstract

Impalement injuries are infrequent yet tend to be life-threatening. Transorbital penetration by foreign bodies represents a peculiar form of traumatic brain injury. However, much is at stake with the high risk of neurological and ophthalmic impairment. We narrate an unusual case of a riding crop penetrating the eye of a 10-year-old girl who presented to our hospital after a fall and an episode of syncope while at a riding stable. Magnetic resonance imaging detected an extended passage-like signal in the right-sided part of the pons and the cerebral peduncles extending to the right cerebellar hemisphere. The patient exhibited marginal clinical symptoms. This case was unsurpassed, as despite the horizontal course of the riding crop perforating the osseous structures and penetrating the brain, it resulted in manageable symptoms, which resolved in a matter of weeks.

Keywords

• Perforating eye trauma
• Brain injury
• Transorbital foreign body
• Impalement injury
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage
• Eyelid hematoma