A historical vignette (19). An orbital trauma in the 16th century.

An orbital trauma in the 16th century. On 30 June 1559, during a jousting tournament, King Henri II of France incurred an injury to the eye from a shattered lance, dying ten days later. Trepanation was discussed briefly before being rejected. The autopsy on the King confirmed that it would have been justified. Even though there was no skull fracture, there was a secondary rebound trauma resulting in a subdural haematoma in the occipital area. This paper examines why the trepanation option was rejected (Figure 1).