Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 103, Issue 9, September 1996, Pages 1453-1457
Ophthalmology

Ocular Nail Gun Injuries

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(96)30484-3Get rights and content

Purpose: Penetrating ocular trauma resulting from nails can have disastrous visual consequences. Ocular nail gun injuries occur when a nail propelled at high velocity penetrates the globe. The authors report four consecutive patients with ocular injuries resulting from nail guns.

Methods: Four patients with ocular nail gun injuries are described: one with scleral penetrating injury, one with corneal penetrating injury, and two with perforating (throughand-through) injuries of the globe.

Results: Three of the four patients recovered good visual acuity after surgical intervention.

Conclusion: Although dependent on the site of impact, the visual prognosis may be less severe than expected because the nail penetrates the eye at a high velocity such that there are less contusive forces. Adherence to safety precautions involving the use of nail guns as well as the obligatory use of safety glasses should reduce the incidence of these injuries.

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    Presented in part at the Vitreous Society, London, England, August 1995, and at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Oct/Nov 1995.

    Supported in part by departmental core grant P30EY06360 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, and by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, New York. Reprint requests to Bailey L. Lee, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Department of Ophthalmology, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr, San Antonio, TX 78284-6230.

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