title: Appraising the spectrum of firework trauma and the related laws during Diwali in North India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of ocular injuries resulting from the use of firecrackers during the Diwali festival in all age groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center, retrospective, hospital-based case series presenting with ocular trauma consequent to fireworks usage in a tertiary eye care center in North India during the 5 days of Diwali festival from 2011 to 2015 was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 53 eyes of 45 patients were included in the study, out of which the vast majority (39/87%) were males. The mean age was 20.55 years. Almost an equal number of bystanders (25/55.5%) were affected as compared to people handling the fireworks (20/44.44%). Five (9.43%) eyes had open-globe injury, whereas 48 (90.56%) eyes had closed-globe injury. Eighteen (33.96%) eyes underwent surgical intervention. Thirty-three (62.26%) eyes had final vision >20/200 with eight (15.09%) eyes being vision <3/60 in the affected eye.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Firework-related ocular trauma can lead to serious visual impairment. Mandatory legislative laws pertaining to the manufacture, sale, and use of fireworks and creating public awareness can reduce the incidence of this preventable cause of blindness in the society. Initiating new policies for retailers involved in sale of these firecrackers can also bring in decrease of such morbidities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Venkatesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Prachi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gurav
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Shailja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tibrewal
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Manisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Suneeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Umang
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Suma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Retina and Vitreous, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006693:Holidays; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult