Ocular injury related with airbag deployment: A case report

Abstract

The most severe airbag-related injuries occur in the orbital region. Eye injuries related with airbag deployment is usually defined under two headings as mechanical injury and alkali chemical injury. In addition to two types of injuries, there may be penetrating injuries accompanying them. Although eye injuries related to airbag deployment are rarely seen, they are extremely important that may result in potential poor clinical results. Treatment of eye injuries depends on the size and type of injury. A case who had monocular injury related to airbag deployment after a motor vehicle accident was presented in this article. Fourtytwo-years old male patient was admitted to our emergency room after a motor vehicle accident. He had complaints of pain in the face and neck. On his physical examination, there was a patchy lesion compatible burn injury in the right half of face and minimal redness in the right eye and periorbital area. In the follow-up of the patient had no radiological evidence of pathology requiring surgical intervention, an increase of redness in the right eye and a swelling of lower-right eyelid were detected. His cornea was found to be intact, but there was a minimal subconjunctival bleeding in the eye examination of the patient who had a normal visual acuity and intraocular pressure. The patient was discharged on the second day of admission after symptomatic treatment.

Keywords

• Airbag
• Emergency service
• Ocular injury

References

1. Duma, S.M., Kress, T.A., Porta, D.J., Woods, C.D., Snider, J.N., Fuller, P.M., Simmons, R.J., 1996. Airbag-induced eye injuries: A report of 25 cases. Trauma. 41, 114-119.
2. Lee, W.B., O’Halloran, H.S., Pearson, P.A., Sen, H.A., Reddy, S.H., 2001. Airbags and bilateral eye injury: Five case reports and a review of the literature. J. Emerg. Med. 20, 129-134.
3. Lehto, K.S., Sulander, P.O., Tervo, T.M., 2003. Do motor vehicle airbags increase risk of ocular injuries in adults? Ophthalmology. 110, 108210
4. O’Neill B., 1992. Effectiveness of air bags. N. Engl. J. Med. 326, 1091.
5. Schreck, R.M., Rouhana, S.W., Santrock, J., D’Arcy, J.B., Wooley, R.G., Bender, H., Terzo, T.S., DeSaele, K.H., Webb, S.R., Salva, D.B., 1995. Physical and chemical characterization of airbag effluents. J. Trauma. 38, 528-532.
6. Vichnin, M.C., Jaeger, E.A., Gault, J.A., Jeffers, J.B., 1995. Ocular injuries related to air bag inflation. Ophthalmic. Surg. Lasers. 26, 542-548. Zador, P.L., Ciccone, M.A., 1993. Automobile driver fatalities in frontal impacts: Air bags compared with manual belts. Am. J. Public Health. 83, 661-666.