Penetrating and Perforating Injuries

Penetrating and Perforating Injuries

Penetrating and Perforating Injuries

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Definitions & Classification - Eye Spy Injury Types

BETT Classification (Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology System):

  • Closed Globe Injury: Eyewall (cornea & sclera) NOT breached.
    • Contusion: No full-thickness wound (e.g., corneal abrasion).
    • Lamellar Laceration: Partial-thickness wound.
  • Open Globe Injury: Full-thickness eyewall defect.
    • Rupture: Blunt trauma; eyewall breach at weakest point (limbus, old incision, post. to muscle insertion).
    • Laceration: Sharp object.
      • Penetrating Injury: Single entry wound. No exit. May have IOFB. 📌 Penetrating = Entry only.
      • Perforating Injury: Two wounds (entry AND exit). 📌 Perforating = Entry & Exit.
      • Intraocular Foreign Body (IOFB): Retained foreign object in globe.

⭐ Globe rupture from blunt trauma most commonly occurs superonasally, posterior to the rectus muscle insertions.

Clinical Evaluation - Spotting the Damage

  • History:

    • Mechanism (sharp object, projectile), symptoms (pain, ↓vision, foreign body sensation).
  • Ocular Examination:

    • Visual Acuity (VA): Often severely ↓.
    • Intraocular Pressure (IOP): Typically ↓ (aqueous leak); can be normal/↑.
    • Pupil: Peaked (points towards wound), irregular, Relative Afferent Pupillary Defect (RAPD) may be present.
    • Cornea/Sclera:
      • Full-thickness laceration, uveal/vitreous prolapse.
      • Seidel's test: Positive (aqueous humor leakage visualized with fluorescein dye under cobalt blue light).
    • Anterior Chamber (AC): Shallow/flat, cells, flare, hyphema.
    • Lens: Traumatic cataract, subluxation/dislocation.
  • Investigations:

    • B-scan Ultrasonography: Useful if posterior view is obscured by media opacity (e.g., hyphema, cataract).
    • CT scan (orbit): Non-contrast, thin axial/coronal cuts for Intraocular Foreign Body (IOFB) localization (NO MRI if metallic IOFB suspected).

⭐ A shallow anterior chamber combined with low IOP is highly suggestive of globe perforation until proven otherwise.

Management Strategy - Patch & Dispatch

  • Goal: Stabilize, prevent further damage/infection, arrange urgent surgical repair.
  • **Immediate Actions (Pre-referral):
    • DO NOT remove impaled foreign body.
    • DO NOT apply pressure patch (risk of extrusion).
    • Protect eye: Rigid shield (e.g., Fox shield).
    • Nil Per Oral (NPO) - for surgery.
    • Antiemetics: IV Ondansetron (4-8 mg) to prevent Valsalva → ↑IOP.
    • Analgesia: Paracetamol (avoid NSAIDs).
    • Tetanus prophylaxis: (TT 0.5 mL IM if needed).
    • Systemic IV Antibiotics (prevents endophthalmitis):
      • Ceftazidime 1g IV q12h + Vancomycin 1g IV q12h.
      • (Alt: Moxifloxacin 400mg IV/PO OD).
    • Urgent ophthalmologist referral (“Dispatch”) for surgical repair.

⭐ Primary repair of an open globe injury is ideally performed within 24 hours to minimize endophthalmitis risk and optimize visual outcome.

Complications & Prognosis - The Aftermath

  • Key Complications:

    • Endophthalmitis: Severe intraocular infection.
      • Prompt intravitreal antibiotics vital.
    • Sympathetic Ophthalmia: Rare bilateral granulomatous panuveitis.
      • Affects uninjured (sympathizing) eye.
    • Retinal Detachment: Can cause profound vision loss.
    • Traumatic Cataract: Lens opacification.
    • Secondary Glaucoma: Elevated IOP (↑IOP).
    • Phthisis Bulbi: Shrunken, non-functional end-stage eye.
  • Ocular Trauma Score (OTS): Predicts visual outcome.

    FactorPoints
    Initial Visual Acuity
    No Light Perception (NLP)60
    Light Perception (LP)/Hand Motion (HM)70
    1/200-19/20080
    20/200-20/5090
    ≥20/40100
    Negative Factors (Deduct)
    Globe Rupture-23
    Endophthalmitis-17
    Perforating Injury-14
    Retinal Detachment-11
    Afferent Pupillary Defect (APD)-10
    Sum points for final OTS (0-100); predicts visual prognosis.

⭐ Sympathetic ophthalmia can occur weeks to years after initial injury; highest risk within 3 months to 1 year.

High‑Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

  • Penetrating injuries have an entry wound only; perforating injuries have entry and exit wounds.
  • Positive Seidel's test (fluorescein streaming) indicates an aqueous humor leak.
  • High risk of infectious endophthalmitis; requires prompt systemic and topical antibiotics.
  • Surgical exploration and primary repair are definitive management.
  • Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare, bilateral granulomatous uveitis post-trauma.
  • Always suspect and rule out intraocular foreign body (IOFB), often requiring CT scan for localization.
  • Tetanus prophylaxis is essential in all open globe injuries.

Practice Questions: Penetrating and Perforating Injuries

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