Penetrating Orbitocranial Injury

Penetrating orbitocranial trauma is an infrequent episode, which may be caused by penetration of the most diverse foreign bodies such as knife, pencil and scissors that tend to take a direction into the orbital apex, with access to the cranial cavity and potential risk of cerebral lesion and mortality. It is essential to evaluate the tomographic images in order to establish the exact location of the foreign body, making it possible to check the entire trajectory of the object; also the possibility of performing an angiography should be considered for the initial analysis. The attempt to remove penetrating objects outside the operating room compromises patient’s safety; it may cause profuse hemorrhage since in most cases the object itself stops the hemorrhage. if there is no intracranial emergency, the orbital injury must be prioritized. This article reports the case of a patient submitted to facial injury by a motorcycle handlebar, in which the foreign body penetrated the orbital region into the cranial middle fossa.