Eye Trauma & Injury

What is Eye Trauma?

Eye trauma essentially refers to any eye injury caused to the eye by blunt trauma. Such trauma often also affects surrounding structures such as the orbit and surrounding tissue. It may be a medical emergency depending on the severity of the trauma.

Eye trauma may be more common in certain occupations than others, such as boxing, wrestling or high-risk contact sports. 

The type of eye trauma can be determined by the type of injury and the event causing the trauma. Eye trauma can be differentiated into blunt injuries, open globe injuries, penetrating injuries, chemical burns and radiation burns.

How Does Eye Trauma Occur?

As the eye gets hit with blunt force, the direct impact causes the eye to compress and retract, leading to blood pooling underneath the affected area, and causing symptoms of trauma. In chemical injuries, the alkali directly damages the structures of the eye, causing a chemical reaction, at times resulting in irreparable damage. Penetrating injuries cause trauma by physical perforation of the eye and its structures, disrupting normal anatomy.

Symptoms of Eye Trauma

The symptoms of eye trauma can be one or more of the following: 

• Loss of vision
• Pain (severity may vary according to injury)
• Difficulty seeing out of the eye
• Eye not moving normally
• Expulsion of the eye from the orbital socket (medical emergency)
• Penetrating injury with a foreign object stuck inside the eye
• Bloodshot eye due to pooling of blood
• A red – painful-looking eye.



How is Eye Trauma Treated?

The treatment for eye trauma is determined according to the specific injury caused. Certain injuries require immediate medical attention. In terms of superficial injuries, icing, analgesics and rest are recommended, along with the use of an eye patch in certain cases. The ophthalmologist may also prescribe eye drops depending on the case. 

Chemical injuries are to be treated immediately and require prompt flushing of the eye with saline water and consultation with an ophthalmologist.

Penetrating injuries need to be assessed and treated as needed, however, in extreme injuries, loss of eye may be inevitable.

Depending on the injury and its type, topical antibiotics and analgesic drops are also prescribed as part of treatment.