Traumatic Blindness after Airbag Deployment

Abstract

Airbags have been shown to save lives and reduce head, neck, and upper torso trauma associated with motor vehicle crashes. However, airbags have also been implicated as the source of facial and orbital injury. We report the case of a patient who suffered bilateral lenticular subluxation, anterior chamber hemorrhages, and minor facial lacerations as the result of airbag deployment.

Occular trauma related to airbag deployment

“…Hepatobiliary ultrasonography is also a safe and non-invasive procedure that permits the identification of the roundworm, which moves and changes position while alive. [2][3][4][5] A ribbon-like, non-shadowing structure with a highly echogenic wall and a less echogenic centre image at the sagittal ultrasonography of the gall bladder is strongly demonstrated as a live ascaris in the gall bladder (fig 1).…”

“…Although there is ample evidence in the literature to suggest that airbags save lives by protecting the driver against head and chest trauma, little has been written concerning the potential injury as a result of airbag inflation. A routine search using Medline has shown that airbag deployment has been shown to cause injuries to the soft tissues and facial skeleton 1 2 but few cases have been reported about direct injury to the globe, occasional cases such as corneo-scleral laceration 3 and lens dislocation 4 have been reported.…”

Evolution of Craniomaxillofacial Trauma

“…In adults, cases of superficial facial and upper extremity burns, orbital floor fracture, and blindness from lenticular dislocation and anterior chamber hemorrhage from airbag inflation have been reported. [11][12][13] NHTSA also reports that there is a 40% increase in incidence of serious injuries to the upper extremities from airbags. All of these factors may contribute to the lack of difference in the severity of craniofacial injuries in our series among restrained and unrestrained vehicle occupants over time.…”

Bilateral posterior dislocation of the crystalline lens after a head injury sustained during a seizure

“…Cases of bilateral lens dislocations after blunt injuries including airbag deployment have been previously documented. 3 Incidental finding of a dislocated lens on magnetic resonance imaging in a 66-year-old patient with epilepsy has also been reported. 4 However, to our knowledge, this is the first case of bilateral lens dislocations after a history of a tonic-clonic seizure leading to serious head injury.…”