[Ocular trauma and caustic burns by air bags]

Abstract

We report two cases of ocular injuries caused by airbag inflation. These cases illustrate two main types of airbag-induced eye injuries: chemical and traumatic. In the first case, chemical keratitis was caused by the aerosol spray of alkaline particles produced by the airbag deployment system. In the second case, the high-speed deployment system caused mechanical injury to the anterior and posterior segments demonstrating the effect of the sudden deceleration when the individual hits the airbag. These two cases as well as others reported in the literature suggest that ocular injury should always be suspected because of the inherent traumatic effect of the airbag protection system.