Paintball guns can cause devastating eye injuries

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Paintball gun-related eye injuries are often severe and normally require surgical intervention, according to a poster study presented here at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.

Kyle Alliman, MD, and colleagues at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute performed a retrospective study of 36 eyes in 36 patients treated at the center. The researchers found that young men who were not wearing eye protection were usually the group to receive paintball-related injuries.

Of the 36 patients, 31 were men (86%) and 35 patients (97%) were not wearing eye protection at the time of injury, according to the study.

Initial treatment involved the primary repair of a ruptured globe in 25% of cases, and 56% of cases were initially managed medically. However, surgery was eventually needed in 81% of cases and eight eyes (22%) required enucleation.

"[Final] visual acuity correlated strongly with vision at presentation," the authors said. At presentation, 28 eyes (77%) had 20/200 or worse visual acuity. Final visual acuity was 20/40 or better in 13 eyes (36%) but was 20/200 or worse in 18 eyes (50%), according to the study.

"Paintball-related ocular injuries are frequently severe and visually devastating," the authors said. "The vast majority of patients required surgical intervention at some point during their ophthalmic care."