Ocular injury from plastic airsoft bullet through protective steel mesh mask

Abstract

The importance of protective eyewear during activities which involve high velocity projectiles is often emphasized to patients, however the material and design of such eyewear is also important. We present the case of a boy who sustained ocular injury from a plastic airsoft bullet while wearing a protective mask issued by the manufacturer. The patient was found to have decreased vision, a corneal abrasion and hyphema. The patient fully recovered with topical prednisolone, cyclopentolate, and moxifloxacin. It is important to advocate for using polycarbonate protective eye wear for our patients who are engaging in activities which involve high velocity projectiles.

Keywords: Airsoft; Corneal abrasion; Eyewear; Pediatrics; Trauma.

Fig. 1

Images of the patient injury and paraphernalia obtained in the acute setting. (a) Patient's left eye on initial presentation with 1+ conjunctival injection and grossly visible hyphema. (b) Left eye shield of protective mask, marketed to withstand standard 0.2 g airsoft BBs at 600 fps. There is a dent on the upper border where the culprit BB impacted marked with a red arrow. (c) Classic “donut” corneal abrasion under UV light with fluorescein stain. (d) Computed Tomography of head and orbits without contrast. No evidence of globe rupture, retained radiodense foreign body, or orbital hematoma. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)