Peri Orbital Cellulitis
As a modern day parent you like to be well equipped to be able to effectively deal with any unforeseen situation for your children. Therefore, understanding the different forms of infection that might affect your child is importantOne such infection is Peri Orbital Cellulitis.
One mother’s true story:
PERI ORBITAL CELLULITIS
“I am sharing this to make moms aware.
I almost made a big mistake which could have costed my daughter her eye sight.
One Thursday my daughter came home from school with a red eye. By dinner time it had gotten worse and I assumed it was pink eye and followed precautions to help minimize the spread and gave her a cool cloth.
I am pretty conservative. I don’t run to the doctor or Emergency room every time my children have a cold or bump. However, by morning her entire eye area was swollen and red and my mommy red flag went off.
The doctor said we were very lucky she was brought in.
Her diagnosis ….
Peri orbital cellulitis caused by a sinus infection we didn’t know she had. Very dangerous and they were prepared to admit her to the children’s hospital if she didn’t show immediate improvement on the oral antibiotics.
Thank God, even though the infection spread, she began to improve and is now better.
Thank you to my friend for sharing what your daughter went thru a couple weeks ago. I never heard of this and I would probably have treated her at home a little longer with terrible consequences.”
I know some people say keep your business off FB, but this business brought awareness and quite possibly saved my daughter from eye damage!
WHAT IS PERI ORBITAL CELLULITIS
Peri Orbital Cellulitis is an infection that affects the tissues surrounding the eye.
• It is a treatable infection but is a serious one and needs immediate medical attention.
• It normally affects a single eye and does not travel to the other eye.
• Your little one might not be able to understand the pain, but in case his or her eyelids look swollen or turns red you should seek medical help.
Causes Of Peri Orbital Cellulitis:
Peri Orbital Cellulitis is a form of bacterial infection. The most common forms of bacteria that usually cause this infection are as follows:
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Streptococcus pyogenes
• Haemophilus influenza
Some of the ways in which one of the above mentioned bacteria could reach the eye of your child are:
• Sudden trauma caused to the eye in the form of a scratch, a bug bite, a cut, etc., can make way for the bacteria to infect the eye.
• This bacterium usually forms a hub in the sinuses, which are found near the nasal passage. They are air filled pockets or cavities and might harbour these bacteria. The bacteria might then travel to the eye from the sinuses.
• Other medical conditions of the eye like a sty or a chalazion might also make way for the bacteria to infect the eye.
Symptoms Of Peri Orbital Cellulitis:
There are a few common symptoms that could occur if a child gets infected with Peri Orbital Cellulitis. However, the extent to which these symptoms occur may vary from child to child.
Some of the common periorbital cellulitis symptoms are as follows:
• Redness and swelling of the lower and upper eyelid.
• Slight amount of pain.
• Might develop conjunctivitis.
• Might also have a runny nose and fever.
• Some amount of uneasiness in the eye.
• Difficulty in moving the eyeball.
Treatment Of Peri Orbital Cellulitis:
In order to diagnose this infection your doctor might suggest some blood tests, X-rays or cultures. After the extent of the infection is figured out, your child might also be referred to an ophthalmologist.
Some of the steps that a doctor might take to treat your child for Peri Orbital Cellulitis are as follows:
1 Administer oral antibiotics to your child or might even give him or her a dose of injection.
2 The doctor would want to monitor the status of recovery, so you might have to visit the doctor in a day or two again. In case of severe infection, the visits might have to be for a couple of more times.
3 A follow up visit should be done in a week or two, by which the infection would have been cured.
4 Doctor might suggest acetaminophen to nudge any form of pain or to control the fever.
5 The complete course of the antibiotics should be administered even if the symptoms subside, so that there is no relapse of the infection.
6 For very small children, hospitalisation may be required to administer the antibiotics through an intravenous catheter.
7 In some severe cases, surgery to remove any abscesses of the eye or to drain the sinuses might be required.
Peri Orbital Cellulitis is completely treatable and curable, so do not get alarmed if your child is diagnosed with the same.
Share your experience of taking care of your child during Peri Orbital Cellulitis and boost the morale of other mothers to take good care of their children.