Self-Inserted Intraorbital Foreign Bodies

Abstract

We report an unusual case of self-mutilation by insertion of multiple foreign bodies in the orbit. A 26-year-old female psychiatric patient with a severe emotionally unstable personality disorder was reviewed in the ophthalmology clinic. She had allegedly inserted a metal staple into her right eye 2 days previously and was complaining of pain around the right eye. Radiography showed multiple foreign bodies in the right orbit and one in the left orbit. Self-mutilation in psychiatric patients has been well documented. The management of nonorganic, nontoxic intraorbital foreign bodies is discussed. A low threshold for imaging in these cases is of vital importance.