title: Ocular consequences of bottle rocket injuries in children and adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the spectrum of ocular injuries and associated visual morbidity in the pediatric and adolescent population caused by bottle rockets.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of consecutive medical records of patients 18 years or younger seen during a recent 4-year period. Outcome measures were ocular injuries at time of visit, interventions required, visual acuity at most recent follow-up, and most recent anatomic findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven eyes from 10 patients (8 boys and 2 girls aged 5-17 years) were identified. Significant ocular injuries included corneal epithelial defect (7 eyes), hyphema (6 eyes), traumatic iritis (2 eyes), iridodialysis (4 eyes), cataract (4 eyes), retinal dialysis (1 eye), and vitreous hemorrhage (2 eyes). Eight eyes required primary intervention (lensectomy in 4 eyes, corneal debridement in 2 eyes, globe exploration in 1 eye, and retinal laser photocoagulation in 1 eye). Three patients required additional procedures. These secondary interventions included pars plana vitrectomy (1 eye), muscle surgery for sensory strabismus (1 eye), corneal debridement (1 eye), and intraocular lens placement (1 eye). Most recent visual acuity (10 eyes with follow-up) was 20/30 or better in 4 eyes and 20/200 or worse in 6 eyes (for 1 eye, the patient was unavailable for follow-up). Permanent visual impairment was typically due to traumatic maculopathy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bottle rockets can cause significant ocular injury in children, often with permanent loss of vision.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: Mehnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reichstein
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: M Recchia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013714:Tennessee / Q000453:epidemiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation