Prasanta Kumar Nanda1 , Purnima Nanda2 , Sabita Mohanta
BACKGROUND Causing acid burn to a fellow human being could be one of the most horrific acts that can ever be committed. It scars not only a person’s face and eyes but also scars their soul for life. Chemical injuries of the eye may produce extensive damage to ocular surface, conjunctiva, corneal epithelium, stroma, sclera and eyelids resulting in permanent unilateral or bilateral visual impairment. We wanted to study the ocular morbidity in acid burn patients in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS It is a prospective study of acid burn patients (18- to 60-yrs.) presenting to RIO, SCBMCH OPD between Aug 17 and Jan 18 and followed up till 3 months. They were subjected to slit lamp evaluation, fluorescence staining, tear film break up time, funduscopic examination, IOP measurement and gonioscopic examination. Patients with history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, pseudophakia were excluded from study. RESULTS Among the 29 patients with acid burn injury in their eyes, 22 patients were victims of accidental acid burns while working in acid factory, 4 suffered acid burns during household work and the rest 3 were homicidal victims (18-30 yrs.). Among the 26 patients, 20 were males (30-50-yrs.), 6 were females (30-45 yrs.) CONCLUSIONS The sequelae of ocular burns can be severe, may lead to vision loss and may particularly be challenging to manage. Persons working in acid factories are more vulnerable to acid injury. So, immediately following acid injury, it is important to estimate and clinically grade the severity of limbal stem cell injury by assessing limbal cell ischemia. Stringent action should be taken to provide protective gears at workplaces to prevent future occurrences of such injuries.
