To ask if anyone here has ever dealt with periorbital cellulitis?

[Iflippinghateplaydoh]

Posted here for traffic (sorry)

Ds (3yo) went to bed Friday night with a very slightly swollen eye.
Saturday morning-completely swollen. No pain just wouldn't open.
Out of hours gp gave eyedrops for conjunctivitis whilst telling me "I'm not sure that it is conjunctivitis"
Today (Sunday) ds wakes up crying. His eye is purple, swollen, closed over and he is saying his head is hurting and temp of 40. Call 111. Sent to out of hours who immediately sends us to a&e. All rushed through very fast and within 20 mins we are up on a ward he has numbing cream on his hand ready for iv antibiotics. Doctor goes off and speaks to consultant and between them decide they think it is periorbital cellulitis and not orbital and give oral antibiotics 3x a day for 10 days. We were under strict instructions return straight to the ward if we have any concerns that things are worsening or not improving fast enough just call ahead first.
We left hospital at 1pm and ds has slept since then. He won't eat (hasn't since tea yesterday) and just keeps crying saying his head is hurting. He's had 2 doses of antibiotics and his temperature has been 38.3 at lowest all day despite regular Calpol and Nurofen.
I am worried so I called the ward and she completely shot me down, saying that I've allowed no time for medicine to kick in yet. I'm also worried about the diagnosis being wrong as everything I've read (I know, I know) says that periorbital comes from a cut or a bite etc but ds had absolutely no signs of anything like that. He's had a cough and a snotty nose for a couple of days prior.
Would you go back tomorrow or should I allow longer for the meds to work? The eye DOES look less swollen tonight as in he is able to open a couple of mm, but it's the lethargy, temperature (currently 39) and the lack of appetite that are making me worry.

[CMOTDibbler]

DH and a friends ds have both had periorbital cellulitis, and both without cuts etc, but also after cold symptoms. Both resolved after oral antibiotics.

If the eye itself is looking better, and you can get fluids into him, I'd see how it looks in the morning as it does need more time for the antibiotics to really work.

[Wasywasydoodah]

Did you speak to a doctor on the phone, or a nurse? If nurse, then I’d be tempted to call back and ask to speak to a dr. Very probably they were right but, just in case, I’d be happier to be though a fool for making a fuss than more serious consequences.

[Iflippinghateplaydoh]

@cmot that's reassuring, thank you.

@wasy it was a nurse I spoke to, but yes good idea about asking to speak to a doctor I didn't think of that . Thanks :)

[22Giraffes]

DD had this when she was 3. Started with conjunctivitis (no cuts/bite) which we treated with eye drops from the gp. A day later it quickly got worse, dd lethargic, crying and couldn't tolerate the light so we rushed to a+e where they took her straight in and admitted her. IV antibiotics for 24 hours which she mainly slept through. Luckily she improved quickly after this but it was very scary, and I also had a 3 month old!

I would def ask to speak to a Dr but trust your own judgement, it was scary how ill DD got so quickly. Hope he's on the mend soon

[NoShoeShops]

It can come from a cut or bite, or from an infection such as a cold.

Depends on the severity of it as to how it’s treated, IV or oral. The children I’ve looked after needing IV treatment often have ENT and ophthalmic teams look at it and sometimes need nose drops. Can he open his eye at all?

[Punxsutawney]

My Ds had it when he was 19 months. He's now a teenager. The gp sent us away with oral antibiotics. I wasn't happy as my Ds seemed very unwell. Am hour later we were in a and e. Ds spent 5 days in hospital on iv antibiotics. He was very unwell. The gp said we needed to wait 48hrs for the oral antibiotics to work, I'm glad I didn't, I don't like to think what might have happened if we had.

[GPatz]

This is timely for me. DS2 nursery has advised that the two confirmed cases of conjunctivitis ended up being periorbital cellulitis and DS2 seems to be developing eyes, so keeping watch and feeling much better informed. Thank you.

[GPatz]

Developing red eyes, that should have read.

[KimKsButt]

My DS had this. His was from a cut. He was in hospital for 4 days, 3 lots of IV anti biotics, one of which was metronidazole. He also had conjunctivitis. As said by PP he was under ENT and ophthalmologist

[Punxsutawney]

I forgot to say they never actually mentioned the word septicaemia but one of the doctors said he had a blood infection. I guess that is why he was so unwell and had iv antibiotics for so long.

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

I've seen your other thread. You're obviously really worried. I'd take my own DS's back if it were them. I'd rather be wrong a million times over than wish I'd done something differently. You aren't happy, go back. Hope DS improves soon.

[Comtesse]

Hmm I’d be tempted to call back and speak to doctor. DD2 had this twice and I’ve had it myself once. It nornally starts healing up quite fast with ABs. Some progress is good but clearly your LO is not well with the loss of appetite and complaining about headaches. I would go back tomorrow and get them looked at again. We went to eye hospital daily.

[Iflippinghateplaydoh]

Just called hospital again as his temp is currently 39.4 despite Nurofen at 7pm and Calpol at 9pm. She said the temperature isn't of concern as he has an infection and the fact I've said his eye is looking less swollen is positive so see how he seems in the morning. Now I do feel like I'm being ott . Will set my alarm and check him overnight

[Punxsutawney]

I've seen your picture on the other thread and that's pretty much what my Ds looked like when he was admitted. The doctors said we did the right thing in taking him to a and e and were pretty appalled a GP had sent us away to wait for 48hrs.

I'm probably the least ott person when it comes to my kids health, I've always been very laid back but I instinctively new when Ds had this that he needed more intervention than the gp had suggested. Like I say he ended up with a blood infection, so don't doubt yourself if you think he needs to be seen again he probably does.

[Pumpkintopf]

Op how's everything this morning?

[Ihatehashtags]

Go back!! Children should respond very quickly to antibiotics and after three doses ;not three days) there should be improvement.

[Iflippinghateplaydoh]

Hi everyone. He is a lot better this morning. The eye is swollen but he can open it a lot more, he's eaten breakfast also. Temp still up at 39.7 but he's not as lethargic. I guess I just need to give it time as things have Definately got better. Thank you :)