Craniocerebral injury resulting from transorbital stick penetration in children

Objects: Two children were admitted to hospital for treatment of craniocere bral injury with transorbital penetration. Methods: One child aged 6 years and 6 months had poked a chopstick in his orbit. There was no report of eit her a palpebral or an ocular wound. He had subsequently developed a meninge al syndrome with a cerebral abscess managed by needle aspiration biopsy and intravenous antibiotics. The other child, aged 4, had fallen onto a metal rod. He presented with a palpebral wound, motor disorders and coma, all due to a frontal intracerebral hematoma. There was an improvement in outcome w ithout complications of an infectious nature or motor sequelae. Conclusions : Such head injuries are rare. Clinical, radiological and ophthalmological investigations must be performed, including computed tomography (CT) scan o r cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with antibiotic treatment for s uspected microorganisms.