Retained subretinal date palm tree thorn in a child

Abstract

A 3-year-old boy presented with severe eye pain and nausea after colliding with a date palm tree branch. Examination under anesthesia revealed a self-sealed corneal laceration and traumatic cataract in his left eye. Cultures were taken and the patient received prophylactic subconjunctival, intravitreal, and systemic antibiotics because of the high risk of endophthalmitis. A thorn from the same tree grew Bacillus cereus. Examination after 2 weeks of the injury revealed a subretinal foreign body (a palm tree thorn), although there were no signs of endophthalmitis or retinal detachment. The patient underwent cataract extraction and laser demarcation of the subretinal foreign body, which was not removed. He was fitted for an aphakic contact lens. With alternate patching, his best-corrected visual acuity improved to 20/30.