How lethal is a pellet gun for eyes?

Abstract

Background: Etiologically ocular injuries can be classified into domestic, occupational, sports, road traffic accidents, iatrogenic, fights and assaults, and war injuries. In the 1960s and 1970s, road traffic accidents became the most common cause of serious ocular injuries. In the 1980s, sports and leisure activities became a common cause of severe eye injury. The home is now the most common location for eye injuries. However, bomb blast and battlefield ocular injuries are becoming increasingly common in different parts of the world. Recently introduced non-lethal pellet guns used by law enforcement Indian agencies in Kashmir were the most common cause of ocular injuries in the valley. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate ocular pellet gun injuries in patients of a conflict zone by a so called non-lethal weapon as a mass control measure. Method: The study was conducted in post graduate department of Radiodiagnosis and imaging, Government Medical College, Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir. Our study was conducted between January 2019 to 15th May 2019. A total of 30 patients with ocular pellet injuries were taken up for study. Results: The most common type of injuries encountered were corneal laceration in 66.7 % eyes, vitreous haemorrhage in 52.8% and scleral laceration in 33.3% of eyes. Indirect signs like decreased volume of anterior chamber were suggestive of corneal laceration. Retained intraocular foreign body (IOFB) was seen in 7 patients and intraorbital foreign body excluding intraocular foreign body in 3 patients. Conclusion: In conclusion a so called non-lethal pellet gun used by law enforcement agencies has the potential to cause devastating ocular injuries.