Transorbital Penetrating Intracranial Injury by a Chopstick

ABSTRACT

A 38-year-old man fell from a chair with a chopstick in his hand. The chopstick penetrated his left eye. He noticed pain, swelling, and numbness around his left eye. On physical examination, a linear wound was noted at the medial aspect of the left eyelid. Noncontrast computed tomography (CT) study showed a linear hypodense structure extending from the medial aspect of the left orbit to the occipital bone, suggesting a foreign body. This foreign body was hyperdense relative to normal parenchyma. From a CT scan with 3-dimensional reconstruction, the foreign body was found to be passing through the optic canal into the cranium. The clear plastic chopstick was withdrawn without difficulty. The patient was discharged home 3 weeks after his surgery. A treatment plan for a transorbital penetrating injury should be determined by a multidisciplinary team, with input from neurosurgeons and ophthalmologists.