Serious fireworks-related eye injuries

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. To analyze and compare epidemiological and clinical information on serious fireworks-related eye injuries from two affiliates of the United States Eye Injury Registry. METHOD. Retrospective review. RESULTS. In the Eye Injury Registry of Alabama (EIRA) database, 185 of the 4150 injuries (4.4%) were caused by fireworks. In the Hungarian Eye Injury Registry database, only two of the 1245 cases (0.1%, p=0.000001) were fireworks-related. In the EIRA, 79% of patients were males and 87% were under 31 years. A bystander was injured in 67% of the cases, being an average of 23 feet away; 39% of bystanders had a final vision =19/200. No injured person wore eye protection. Bottle rockets caused 80% of the 185 injuries. Overall, 20% of eyes had <5/200 final visual acuity. Twenty-five percent of bottle rocket-injured eyes, compared to 64% of those injured by other devices, had =20/40 final vision (p=0.000004). CONCLUSIONS. The rate of fireworks-related serious eye injuries has not decreased in Alabama in the last 16 years; most patients are young males. Since bystanders are at a measurable risk even at a distance of 100 feet, wearing eye protection is recommended to both bystanders and operators. Bottle rockets cause most of the injuries and the more severe ones, and should be the prime target for prevention. The benefit of a strict and enforced legislative ban on private fireworks displays is demonstrated by the much lower incidence figure in Hungary. Such a ban should be considered in other countries where fireworks-related eye injuries are common.