Unusual Cases of Ocular Trauma

Abstract

Ocular trauma has been described as one of the major aetiologies of monocular and non-congenital visual impairment and blindness in all parts of the world. Eye trauma constitutes 7% of all bodily injuries and 10%–15% of all eye diseases.1 Over 2.4 million eye injuries occur each year in The United States of America.2 Globally, there are approximately 1.6 million people who are blind from eye injuries, 2.3 million are bilaterally visually impaired, and 1.9 million have unilateral visual loss.3,4 Ocular trauma can be classified as closed and open globe injuries. Open globe injuries can be a rupture, penetrating injury, perforating injury or intra ocular foreign body.5 A perforating injury is defined as an injury that consists of two full thickness wounds - one entry and one exit wound.6 It usually occurs due to a projectile object travelling at a high velocity and kinetic energy that is capable of penetrating two opposite coats of the globe. Perforation injuries are common and cause severe visual impairment. Panda et al. presented a profile of ocular trauma in Delhi in which they observed that among the type of injuries, perforating injuries accounted for 75.3%, blunt injuries for 20.5% and extra- ocular for 4.2% of the total number of ocular trauma cases. Further the visual outcome in perforating injuries was > 6/12 in 14 %; 6/18- 6/60 in 14% and less than 6/60 in 55.2% of the cases. 7 Profile of ocular trauma varies with country, geography, industrialisation and development of the place. These injuries do not occur as random events and there is evidence that some individuals are at increased risk because of exposure to hazards and/or inability to avoid or detect hazards.8 Some individuals are at increased risk of eye injury as a result of their occupation. Small scale and large-scale industrial workers constitute a group of individuals at high risk. These workers are exposed to such hazards as flying metal chips, burns in the eye and injury from radiation.9 Ludhiana and neighbouring areas are heavily industrialised mainly, with metalrelated products and therefore, there are more chances of industrial ocular trauma. We are reporting two unusual cases related to ocular trauma. The first one is that of an alleged accidental injury to the right eye with a piece of hack saw blade whereas the second case report is that of a dental student who injured his eye by orthodontic wire which is used for making braces.