Postseptal orbital cellulitis and sinusitis. Descriptive study of 8 cases and literature review

This is a retrospective study of 8 patients with postseptal orbital cellulitis (stages II-V of Chandler) caused by sinusitis during 1999-2003. The variables analyzed in this study included age, sex, delay in diagnosis, aetiology, imaging studies, microbiology specimens collected and treatment. Delays in diagnosis were frecuent. CT was the best radiologic study. Polymicrobial infections were the rule, including anaerobes. 4 patients of 8 needed surgical drainage. A general guideline for the management of periorbital and orbital cellulitis according to the clinical staging of the process is presented.