Freak accidents damage eyes of 2 men

 1 hit by a firecracker, the other a victim of gas gush

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE FEBRUARY 23 2007

TWO men in the city severely damaged their eyes in separate freak accidents on Wednesday. While one sustained injuries by a firecracker, the other was a victim of a gush of gas.

51-year-old Ramlal Jain from Rajasthan was rushed to Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital after a firecracker hit his left eye at a wedding. “I went near to cracker just to check whether it was lit properly and it came onto my eye in a jiffy. And there was a sudden blackout,” said Jain.

Jain also injured his lips on the left side, which a local doctor at Bhilwadi sutured with a twine. This, according to the doctors at Aditya Jyot, is worrying as the lips are a highly sensitive area.

“The posterior segment of eye is damaged. And the veins near the lips do not have valves, which means chances of infection to brain or the eye is more. Hence, we need to reconstruct his swollen lips and apposition his face,” said Dr Debraj Shome, ophthalmic and facial plastic surgeon at the hospital, who is planning a reconstructive surgery on Jain.

In another case, R L Chaudhry (48) from Maysana in Gujarat sustained injury in the eyes from a gas gush. His left eye is damaged due to the air pressure.

“The gas hit the right nostril and CT scan indicates that the medial wall of obit near the eye and the floor where the eye rests have been ruptured. His eye turned week and shrunken post the ophthalmic facial reconstructive surgery,” said Dr Shome.

Even though basic repair was done at a Maysana eye clinic, Chaudhry lost his right eye. However, doctors at the Mumbai hospital are planning to implant a silicon ball called myoconjunctival enucleation. “The prosthesis, when replaced, will look real and will also give 80 per cent mobility. This means removing the damaged eye to reduce the chances of infection to the other eye,” said Dr Shome.

But for Jain it is wait and watch for 48 hours before he is operated on. “He will be kept under observation for 48 hours. We have put him on steroids to reduce inflammation that will help swelling to subside around his eyes. Only then we can perform vitractomy to remove blood clot in his eyes,” said Dr S Natrajan managing director, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital .

“Even though his prognosis of vision is very good he will have to undergo cataract surgery, to remove cataract, suture the cornea and put lenses,” said Dr S Natrajan.

Wrapped on the affected area damaged by the sulfur granules of the cracker, Jain, a jeweller, is now worried about his future.