Blindness Secondary to Odontogenic Infections: Case Series from a Tertiary Health Care Facility in Sokoto, Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Blindness secondary to odontogenic orbital infection is not uncommon. We report five (5) cases of severe odontogenic orbital cellulitis causing blindness. These patients were seen and managed over a 3-year study period (from July 2019 to August 2022) at the Dental and Maxillofacial surgery clinic of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto. There were 2 male children and a female child in the age range of 6-10years with a mean±SD of 7.7±2.1, a 37-year-old male and a 24-year-old female. Cancrum oris/osteomyelitis was the primary diagnosis in one child, right maxillary osteomyelitis in two children, buccal +temporal space abscess and buccal space abscess in the two adult (male and female) patients respectively. All patients had a preceding history of toothache before the onset of other symptoms. All the patients had visual acuity of no light perception in the affected eye. Additionally, they had a varying degree of proptosis and restricted ocular motility while one child presented with purulent discharge and disorganized globe. Aggressive medical and surgical treatment was instituted in consultation with the ophthalmologists, which resulted in the resolution of the disease in all the patients.