“Is the eyeball itself intact, is it ruptured? That’s the first thing we wanted to make sure – and then there was no sign of it being ruptured. Then we can see that there was damage to the front part of the eye – and then we also wanted to see was there an abrasion of a scratch on the cornea. And those are the things we can check in the emergency department.”

– Dr. Lonnie King, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Over 40-thousand people are treated in U.S. emergency rooms each year, for eye injuries from sports and recreation.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most of those eye injuries involve kids under the age of 15.

Thousands more children, meanwhile, suffer eye injuries while at home.

In 14-year-old Olivia’s case, it was a freak accident.

She was shaking out a pair of pants, which had a clothes pin attached to the pants cuff.

“[The clothes pin] came up and hit her forcefully in the eye, and it caused bleeding inside the eye,” says Dr. Lonnie King, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – who treated Olivia in the E.R.

“Her mom looked in her eye and she blood had accumulated there – and knew she should bring her to the emergency room.”

Olivia can only see shadows out of her right eye. Her iris is torn and bleeding.

“The iris is that colored thing that makes the pupil,” says Dr. King, “and the place that she had bled was between the cornea – that clear dome over the pupil – and then in front of the iris.”

Using a florescent dye, Dr. King examines Olivia’s eye under ultraviolet light. There is a pool of blood behind her cornea.

The worry is that, if she lies down, the blood will spread across the front of her eye, leading to partial blindness.

“The more you move around, the more that blood moves around,” Dr. King warns her, “and it can tattoo the cornea, [causing] staining and decreased vision forever. It is very serious.”

Dr. King orders Olivia to sleep with her head elevated, 30 to 45 degrees, for the next several days.

There’s a good chance her eye will recovery fully.

And Dr. King says she was lucky.

“[The accident] could have ruptured her eyeball,” he says. “It could have detached her retina. But it could have really caused a lot more damage, if she hadn’t had the reflex to close her eyes suddenly and probably squint down so that her eyelid shielded some of the damage.”

Top ˆ

• A scratched cornea (the clear part of the eye) should receive medical treatment immediately. (Virtual Pediatric Hospital)
• If you notice any of the following with your child, seek medical help as soon as possible:
  • Your child is in obvious pain or has trouble seeing
  • One of the child’s eyes does not move as well as the other
  • The eye has a usual pupil size or shape
  • There is blood in the clear part of the eye.

  
  (Prevent Blindness America)

• If the eye is bleeding, cover both eyes with a clean cloth. Do not press on the eye. (Virtual Pediatric Hospital)
• For young children, safeguard your home against eye injury. Round-off sharp corners on furniture, keep kids away from plants with thorns. Supervise children when they use sharp tools, and make sure that knives, scissors and other potentially dangerous objects are kept out of a child’s reach. (University of Washington – Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D.)

Top ˆ

• University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center
• Prevent Blindness America

Top ˆ