Fire works injury resulting in visual loss: a case report

ABSTRACT

Fireworks displays are often a part of celebrating important occasions throughout the world. Fireworks are hazardous to both the community and individuals, and the damage they cause ranges from fires to personal injury. In one year alone, 8,200 victims of fireworks-related injuries were treated in emergency rooms in the United States] It has been estimated, however, that only 40% of such injuries are reported. The American Academy of Ophthalmology received reports of 700 fireworks-related injuries in a single day on the Fourth of July 1985. The eyes are the body part most often injured by fireworks, followed by hands and fingers In this report a bottle rocket, one of the so called "safe and sane" devices, caused permanent visual loss in one eye of a boy spectator. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a fireworks-related ocular injury from Saudi Arabia