Ocular injuries from paintball pellets

Thach, Allen B.; Ward, Thomas P.; Hollifield, Rodney D; Dugel, Pravin U.; Sipperley, Jack O.; Marx, Jeffrey L.; Abrams, Donald A.; Wroblewski, Keith J.; Sonkin, Peter L.; Birdsong, Richard; Dunlap, W. A.

doi:10.1016/s0161-6420(99)90112-4

Cited by 51 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Their patient's goggles were driven into the globe from the force of impact of the paintball. Many similar reports have been published since then that described goggle failure 6,11,12,14 and paint entering around the goggles 7 and through ventilation holes. 9,13 In their 1989 report, Welsh et al 17 recommended a simple eye glass style safety lens with side pieces (Fig 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Many of the participants started the game with eye protection but removed them because of fogging, discomfort, or paint on the lens or had the goggles accidentally dislodged while running. 2,3,5,6,12,14,16,17,19 In 1987, Martin and Magolan 4 reported the first case of eye injury despite the use of goggles. Their patient's goggles were driven into the globe from the force of impact of the paintball.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paintball Injuries in Children: More Than Meets the Eye

Listman

2004

Pediatrics

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ABSTRACT. Objective. To describe the increasing incidence of ocular injuries in the pediatric population caused by paintballs. The awareness of this trend will help the physician who treats the child to give appropriate care as well as educate physicians, who counsel children, about this growing mechanism of pediatric injuries.Methods. Previously unpublished data from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission were analyzed to find the frequency of ocular injuries in children. A review of the English-language literature was also conducted to describe trends with regard to age, sex, location at the time of injury, use of eye protection, types of injuries sustained, and long-term visual outcome.Results. The incidence of paintball eye injuries treated in emergency departments has risen from an estimated 545 in 1998 to >1200 in 2000. The proportion of these injuries that occurred in the pediatric population may be well over 40%. These injuries are seen predominantly in boys, a growing proportion of whom are playing informally in unsupervised settings and not wearing eye protection. The cases previously reported include large numbers of hyphemas, retinal detachments, cataracts, corneal abrasions, vitreous hemorrhages, and commotio retina. Many of the patients in these cases sustained permanent visual impairment, with 43% having best vision at follow-up of 20/200 or worse.Conclusions. Pediatric eye injuries caused by paintballs are an unrecognized cause of severe injury and permanent visual loss. The advances in eye protection for participants in "war games" have had little if any effect on the youngest population. Children and teens are unlikely to wear eye protection voluntarily when playing at undesignated or unsupervised locations. Changes should be made to restrict availability of these very dangerous but easily acquired guns and ammunition. Practitioners must counsel young people and their caregivers to avoid injuries by wearing appropriate eye protection. Parents should supervise the use of paintball equipment as they would other activities that involve high-speed projectiles. Pediatrics 2004;113:e15-e18. URL: http://www. pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/113/1/e15; eye injury, paintball, protective gear, children, hyphema, vitreous hemorrhage.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paintball Injuries in Children: More Than Meets the Eye

Listman

2004

Pediatrics

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“…The procedure enables the removal of diseased anterior stroma while preserving the recipient's endothelium and so avoids the major problems of endothelial rejection and accelerated endothelial cell loss seen with penetrating keratoplasty. [1][2][3] It was therefore a particularly favourable technique before the introduction of corticosteroids, new surgical techniques, and modern eye banking allowed improved success rates for penetrating surgery in the late 1970s. Modern penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) can achieve better visual results than lamellar keratoplasty (LKP), and is less technically challenging and time consuming to perform.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,2 Types of injuries include corneal rupture, hyphaema, lenticular damage, vitreous haemorrhage, retinal tear/detachment, and optic neuropathy. 1 Optic nerve head avulsion occurs in the setting of blunt trauma to the eye.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Failure of imaging to detect optic nerve avulsion: an explanation based on histopathology

Perry

Ratliff

Bakri

et al. 2005

Eye

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“…6,12,13 Aside from skin lesions and musculoskeletal injuries, which are discussed below, ocular injuries are the most common, and many require urgent surgical intervention. 6,13 The range of reported ocular injury includes hyphema, [11][12][13][14][15][16] minor ocular trauma, such as corneal abrasion 11,12 and paint in the eye, 17 to open globe ruptures, 11,12,15 and loss of an eye. 12 The visual prognosis for ocular injuries is poor.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Target Lesions and Other Paintball Injuries

Sbicca

Hatch²

2012

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine

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Paintball is a popular combat game, with more than 5 million participants per year. As it has increased in popularity, the incidence of paintball-related injuries also has increased. The most common injuries are classic, benign skin lesions that are easily recognized if one is aware of them. Devastating eye injuries also may occur if participants do not wear face masks. Other reported injuries include musculoskeletal injuries, solid organ injuries, and vascular pseudoaneurysms. Rarely, paintball-related deaths have been reported. This article is the first to review the full spectrum of paintball injuries; in addition, the article emphasizes the importance of encouraging participants to adhere to appropriate safety measures, particularly wearing an appropriate face mask at all times during the game. Paintball is a popular, war-like game in which the players are armed with guns powered by compressed gas that fire paintballs.1 In 2007, an estimated 5,476,000 people in the United States played paintball at least once during the year.2 Paintballs are spherical and have a central seam designed to break on impact, leaving paint on the player to indicate a "hit." [3][4][5] Although paintballs travel at fairly low speeds and are designed to break easily, they still are capable of causing injury. Concurrent with the rise in popularity of the game, the incidence of paintball-related injuries is increasing. 6,7 This article describes a patient with a common paintball injury and reviews the literature about paintball injuries. By understanding basic aspects of the game and the injuries associated with it, family physicians can better recognize and treat these injuries, as well as help prevent injuries by educating participants about safety precautions. A literature review was performed by searching PubMed with the following words: paintball, paint, pellet, and airgun. The lists of relevant paintball articles were carefully reviewed to identify additional pertinent publications. Case ReportA 53-year-old man presented with multiple tender skin lesions (Figure 1). Similar lesions were noted on his trunk and arm. He played paintball 3 days earlier at a commercial site, sustaining multiple hits with paintballs. His medical history was positive only for asthma, which was treated with albuterol metered dose inhaler as needed. He had no history of abnormal bleeding or skin problems. The lesions shown in Figure 1 were caused by shots fired from approximately 40 yards away. Immediately after impact, raised welts appeared. These evolved into bruises over the next 12 to 24 hours. The lesions on the patient's leg were more dramatic than those on his trunk; he attributed this to wearing only a thin pair of pants but wearing several layers of clothing on his trunk. He had sustained several hits to his face and forehead, but his facemask fully protected these areas from injury. One month after presentation, all skin lesions had resolved without scarring.

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Ocular injuries from paintball pellets

Cited by 51 publications

References 12 publications

Paintball Injuries in Children: More Than Meets the Eye

Paintball Injuries in Children: More Than Meets the Eye

Failure of imaging to detect optic nerve avulsion: an explanation based on histopathology

Target Lesions and Other Paintball Injuries

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