[Orbital ischemia syndrome after surgical intervention of the spine. A case report].

Uni- or bilateral blindness is an infrequent but severe complication after spinal surgery and typically occurs more frequently in elderly patients. The visual loss may be caused by ischemic optic neuropathy , central retinal artery or vein occlusion or cerebral stroke . It has often been attributed to various causes such as hemorrhagic shock, hypotension, coagulopathic disorders and embolism. However blindness as a surgical complication has rarely been described as a consequence of prolonged compression of the eye.