doiSerbia

Eye injuries caused by shotgun and air-rifles treated at the University eye clinic in Belgrade 2000-2009

Jovanović Miloš B. (Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade + Clinic of Eye Diseases, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade)

Introduction. Eye injuries caused by shotgun buckshot or air-rifle bullets are not common but are very severe, causing blindness of the injured eye. Objective. By comparison of different parameters, to determine which of these two types of injuries have more serious final effect on vision. Methods. A retrospective comparative analysis of patients with shotgun and air-rifle injuries, treated in the period 2000-2009 at the University Eye Clinic in Belgrade was carried out, with patients being divided in two groups depending of the type of the weapon. Age of patients, occupation, days in the week and part of the day when the accidents happened, presence of the retained foreign body, as well as the visual acuity on admission and final visual outcome were reviewed and analyzed. Results. There were 16 shotgun and 5 air-rifle injuries. Mean age of patients injured by shotgun was 45.5±11.9 years, while those injured by air-rifle bullets were only 15.0±1.0 years old. Shotgun accidents happened in hunters, on weekends, in the morning, while air-rifle accidents were typical for pupils, on working days, in the afternoon. Final visual acuity following buckshot injuries was: NLP in 6 (37.5%), less than 0.1 in 6 (37.5%) and normal (1.0) in 4 (25%) patients. Out of patients hit by air-rifle bullet, no light perception (NLP) was documented in 4 (80%) while visual acuity remained normal in one patient. Conclusion. All injuries by shotgun and air-rifle are very serious, ending in loss of vision in high percent of cases. Prevention is essential.

Keywords: eye injuries, buckshot, air-rifle, visual acuity