Bottle rockets can cause serious eye injuries in kids

January 11th, 2011 - 5:44 pm ICT by ANI  

Washington, Jan 11 (ANI): A new study has found that bottle rockets can cause significant eye injuries in children, often leading to permanent loss of vision.

The authors said, “Injuries may result from direct high-velocity contact with the intact rocket, from parts of the rocket that may break off during flight or from neighboring debris propelled by the force of the rockets’ combustion.

Mehnaz Kahn, and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, report on 11 eyes in 10 patients (eight boys and two girls) age 18 or younger who were seen for eye injuries caused by bottle rockets between 2006 and 2009.

Of these, injuries included defects in the epithelium lining the cornea bleeding in the front of the eye, traumatic inflammation of the iris, iridodialysis or a tear of the iris, cataract, retinal dialysis or a type of retinal tear and bleeding into the eye’s vitreous fluid.

Eight of the eyes required initial treatments such as surgical removal of the lens or corneal debridement (removal of damaged corneal tissue). Three patients required additional procedures, including muscle surgery and placement of a new lens.

Of the 10 eyes with follow-up, the most recent visual acuity was 20/30 or better in four eyes and 20/200 or worse in six eyes.

The research was posted online today and will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. (ANI)

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