PURPOSE: We present a case of orbital abscess following porous orbital implant infection in a 73-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: Just one month after a seemingly uncomplicated enucleation and porous polyethylene (Medpor(R)) orbital implant surgery, implant exposure developed with profuse pus discharge. The patient was unresponsive to implant removal and MRI confirmed the presence of an orbital pus pocket. Despite extirpation of the four rectus muscles, inflammatory granulation debridement and abscess drainage, another new pus pocket developed. RESULTS: After partial orbital exenteration, the wound finally healed well without any additional abscess formation. CONCLUSIONS: A patient who has risk factors for delayed wound healing must be examined thoroughly and extreme care such as exenteration must be taken if there is persistent infection.
Prosthesis-Related Infections/diagnosis/*etiology/surgery ; Porosity ; Orbital Implants/*adverse effects ; Orbital Diseases/diagnosis/*etiology/surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Humans ; Follow-Up Studies ; Female ; Eye Enucleation ; Device Removal ; Aged ; Abscess/diagnosis/*etiology/surgery

Alloplastic implants are known to be inert for many years, though complications are infrequently reported many years after their insertion. We report the case of a patient who had undergone a blow-out fracture repair five years before the discovery of a hematic cyst. He had been free of symptoms for the first five years after his orbital floor repair but then developed pain on eyeball movement and persistent vertical diplopia, which finally led to surgical intervention. At surgery, a hematic cyst was found to have formed around the implanted silastic plate. When alloplastic material is used in orbital fracture repair, we should be alert for late complications which may occur many years after surgery.
Adult ; Biocompatible Materials ; *Blood ; Bone Cysts/diagnosis/*etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Orbital Diseases/diagnosis/*etiology ; Orbital Fractures/diagnosis/*surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Prostheses and Implants/*adverse effects ; Reoperation ; Silicone Elastomers/*adverse effects ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed