Abstract
Purpose :
To analyze trends in ocular injuries secondary to nonpowder and toy guns in children under 18 years old presenting to emergency departments in the United States between 2013-2017.
Methods :
We performed a retrospective cohort study utilizing the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) from 2013 to 2017. We performed a descriptive analysis including diagnoses, type of gun, demographic variables, and disposition. We included nonpowder guns (gas, air, and spring-operated and BB), toy guns (foam dart, cap, and water), and miscellaneous guns (nail, potato, and paintball guns).
Results :
From 2012-2017 an estimated 7,736 95% CI [5,540, 9,931] pediatric emergency department visits were prompted by ocular injuries secondary to nonpowder guns, representing 16 per 100,000 children. Our comprehensive search of the NEISS database using the search terms “gun” and limited to ocular injuries revealed 379 reported cases; BB guns (43%), toy guns (43%) and gas, air or spring-operated (12%) made up the majority of the products. 85% of the injuries were to male patients. The most commonly affected age group was 11-14 years old (44%). The most commonly reported location of injury was at home (49%). 89% of patients were treated in the emergency department and then released.
The most common type of ocular injuries for nonpowder guns were abrasions (85%), hyphema (20%), foreign body (15%), traumatic iritis (9%), and globe rupture (6%). The most common type of ocular injuries for toy guns were abrasions (61%), hyphema (20%), traumatic iritis (8%).
Conclusions :
This study suggests that pediatric eye injuries secondary to nonpowder and toy guns are more common in males aged 11-14 and occur at home. The most common types of ocular injuries included abrasions, hyphema, and traumatic iritis. Nonpowder guns were associated with higher rate of globe rupture than toy guns.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.