Bottle rockets cause permanent vision loss

Bottle rocket injuries can cause serious ocular injury or permanent loss of vision in children and adolescents, an investigation from the Archives of Ophthalmology has concluded.

The retrospective review, conducted by Ms Mehnaz Khan et al., Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, revealed several ocular injuries including corneal epithelial defect, hyphaema, traumatic iris, iridodialysis, cataract, retinal dialysis and vitreous haemorrhage.

Eleven eyes were used from 8 boys and 2 girls aged 5–17 years. The outcome measures consisted of present ocular injuries, interventions needed, the most recent visual acuity and the latest anatomic findings.

Four eyes underwent lensectomy, 2 eyes required corneal debridement, 1 eye required globe exploration and 1 eye needed retinal laser photocoagulation. Secondary interventions were required for 3 patients. This included 1 pars plana vitrectomy, 1 muscle surgery for sensory strabismus and 1 intraocular lens placement.

It was concluded that bottle rocket injuries resulted in permanent damage to vision commonly due to traumatic maculopathy.