Pepper-Ball-Related Ocular Injury

Abstract

The pepper-ball is a less-than-lethal projectile that releases a plume of PAVA (capsaicin II) pepper upon impact to incapacitate the target. To our knowledge, there are no reports of direct or indirect ocular injuries from this weapon in the medical literature despite several reports from the mainstream media. We report a middle-age male who presented with a pepper-ball injury to the right eye, resulting in a 10-millimeter scleral rupture with uveal prolapse and no light perception (NLP) vision at presentation, total retinal detachment, full-thickness eyelid lacerations and tissue damage, medial orbital wall fracture, and severe retro-bulbar hemorrhage due to direct trauma and capsaicin-induced chemical injury. Globe exploration and repair were performed, and the vision remained NLP. The patient declined early vitreoretinal surgery to attempt repair of the retinal detachment due to his guarded prognosis.

Keywords

• ocular trauma
• pepper ball injury
• globe trauma
• ballistic ocular trauma
• less than lethal

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