Postoperative blindness following orbital surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the occurrence of blindness following orbital surgery.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A retrospective study on 1593 cases who had undergone an orbital surgical procedure. Preoperative clinical examinations and radiological features were collected and reviewed, as well as the data regarding the postoperative outcome.

RESULTS

There were 7 cases of postoperative blindness (0.44%).

DISCUSSION: This percentage of cases with an unexpected development of blindness after surgery may represent a reasonable estimate of the general risk of encountering this complication after an orbitotomy. Many books and papers on orbital surgery make the reader aware that vision can be threatened after surgery due to the high risk of damaging the optic nerve, either directly or as a result of iatrogenic vascular damage caused by the surgical maneuvers. However, the percentage of postoperative blindness has not yet been widely reported.