Delayed surgery in lower eyelid anthrax allows healing

Surgeons should consider delaying surgery when faced with anthrax involving the lower eyelid, according to a group of Turkish physicians. The delay can allow secondary healing, and the lesion does not always result in functional deformity, the authors said.

U. Koçer and colleagues described a case of cutaneous anthrax involving the lower eyelid of a 40-year old woman. She had a history of animal contact and had been treated for a left lower eyelid lesion with a black eschar. Cutaneous anthrax was diagnosed, and the woman was started on intravenous penicillin therapy.

Surgical intervention was delayed for 3 months. The lesion healed secondarily, and the resulting scar did not create ectropion of the lower eyelid.

The case study is published in The Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery.