Phacocele Induced by Traumatic Blunt Injury in a 53-Year-Old Woman: A Case Report

TL;DR

A 53-year-old woman developed a rare eye condition called phacocele after blunt trauma and showed improved vision following surgery.

Contribution

This paper presents a rare case of traumatic phacocele and its successful surgical management in an elderly patient.

Findings

The patient showed improved best-corrected visual acuity after a three-stage surgical intervention.

Phacocele is a rare complication of blunt eye trauma, often seen in elderly patients.

Surgical management is crucial for treating phacocele, though long-term outcomes may be affected by complications.

Abstract

To report a 53-year-old woman with a traumatic phacocele after blunt eye trauma.

In this case, a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, computed tomography (CT), eye ultrasonography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), as well as eye and orofacial surgeries, were performed. The surgery was divided into three different stages: a revision of the wound, maxillofacial surgery, and a 25G pars plana vitrectomy with retropupillary Artisan IOL implantation.

During the latest examination, occurring one and a half months after the incident, the patient presented with a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/70 in the left eye.

Phacocele is a rare consequence of blunt ocular trauma, most commonly observed in elderly patients after a fall, with the lens dislocated in the superonasal quadrant. Prompt surgical management is essential, although long-term visual results may be affected by postoperative complications.

Phacocele, defined as the displacement of the crystalline lens into the subconjunctival space, is a rare complication that may arise from blunt eye trauma. Due to its infrequency, there is limited literature and documented cases available. As demonstrated in this case, the patient exhibited significant improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) following surgical interventions in the eye.

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