Foreign body in the nasal cavity aff ecting the nervus opticus –⁠ a case report

Overview

In most cases, a foreign body in the nasal cavity does not pose a difficult diagnostic or therapeutic problem for the otorhinolaryngologist. This problem is most often encountered by pediatric otorhinolaryngologists who remove various toys, food, or other small objects from the nasal cavity. Another group of patients who are more frequently encountered with this problem are psychiatric patients. The diagnosis is established based on the medical history and clinical examination, which includes physical and endoscopic examination, possibly with additional imaging methods. The occurrence of foreign bodies in paranasal sinuses is extremely rare; approximately 70% of these cases are associated with some form of maxillofacial trauma, while others are related to surgical treatments after dental problems. Rarely, the foreign body can reach important vascular or nerve structures. At our department, we saw a patient who had a foreing body in the optical canal and the object was very close to the optical nerve, which was not injured. In this case, it was necessary to do surgery under general anesthesia to remove it. In most cases, it is possible to remove the foreign body from the nasal cavity without using anesthetics, even when we have to take care of small children. We may decide to do the surgery under general aneshesia only in case of non-compliance or excessive pain.

Keywords:

Nasal cavity – foreign body – optical canal – optical nerve