Penetrating Eye Injuries Related to Assault

Open globe injuries in patients seen at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

“…[11] In the study on open globe injuries mentioned above, [2] there was evidence of definite or possible alcohol use by at least 24% of the injured persons and of illicit drug use by 8%, compared with alcohol and illicit drug use by at least 48% and 6%, respectively, of the injured persons in a separate report on open globe assaultrelated injuries over the same time period. [3] In comparison, about 50% of all our open globe injuries and 66% of the assault-related injuries were associated with alcohol use by the patient, while 71% of assault-related injuries were associated with alcohol use by the victim and/or the assailant.…”

“…Other studies reporting associations with alcohol use have also relied on the history and clinical examination. [2,3,12,15] Almost a third of our patients were lost to follow-up, and did not complete the 3-month period. The documented 3-month VAs may therefore be biased.…”

“…This finding is consistent with those of other authors. [2,3,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] A retrospective study on patterns of injury and outcomes after multi-system trauma revealed that 220 patients with open globe injuries presented to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (USA) over a 3-year period, with men more likely to suffer from penetrating injuries and women more likely to experience blunt globe rupture. [7] This gender difference in type of injury was not found in our study population.…”

A Case Of Bilateral Manual Eye-Gouging Of A British Soldier

“…Several studies suggest that most victims of assault-related eye injuries are males under thirty, with alcohol and psychiatric illness being frequent aetiologic factors (11,12). A multicentre review of ten cases of eye gouging documented in the United States and Russia found that four of the assailants were psychotic and one mentally retarded; five were psychopathic (13).…”

A transethmoid transorbital foreign body

“…We scanned the literature for reports of ocular and ethmoidal foreign bodies, and could not find any mention of such a bizarre foreign body. Reports have been made of orbitocranial foreign bodies (Maere, 1979;Danneberg, 1992) where wooden/metallic foreign bodies have entered through the orbit and gone through the roof intracranially. Most of the patients lost their vision or had impaired vision.…”