A Case of Infection after the Use of Gore-Tex^® to Treat an Orbital Floor Fracture

Abstract

We encountered a patient who developed an infection and eye complications after the use of Gore-Tex^® to treat an orbital floor fracture.

The patient was a 38-year-old man who had undergone plastic surgery for a left orbital floor fracture at another hospital about 20 years earlier. The patient recently experienced the development of left exophthalmos and diplopia and visited an ophthalmologist. A computed tomography examination revealed a calcification shadow in the left maxillary sinus, and the patient was referred to our department. He was diagnosed as having left maxillary sinusitis-induced eye complications, and left nasal endoscopic surgery was performed under general anesthesia. A material assumed to be Gore-Tex^® was present in the maxillary sinus, and this material was considered to have been the cause of the infection. An incision of the canine fossa was performed, and the Gore-Tex^® in the maxillary sinus was removed endoscopically. The postoperative course was favorable, with a reduction in the exophthalmos and an improvement in the diplopia. The possibility of late-onset complications caused by the use of artificial materials to reduce orbital floor fractures should be considered in cases that present with exophthalmos and diplopia.