Traumatic air blast injury with intracranial, bilateral orbital, and mediastinal air.

Air at 75 lbs/sq in from an air compressor hose struck a 19-year-old man in his right eye. Injected through a superior conjunctival laceration, the air entered subcutaneous, mediastinal, and bilateral orbital and intracranial spaces. High-resolution computed tomography scanning of the head and orbits revealed air adjacent to the right optic nerve throughout the orbit. We hypothesize that air was injected intracranially, but extradurally, through the superior orbital fissure. The patient suffered no visual loss.