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Emergency care saves a child’s vision
Eight-year-old Anitha from Gulbarga, Karnataka, was brought into the Emergency Clinic on April 1, 2005, screaming and hysterical. She had hurt herself and her right eye seemed swollen. But she had covered the eye and would not let even the doctors check it. Her parents, overcome with worry and concern, were near collapse.
A preliminary examination revealed that Anitha’s eye was bulging out. As she was uncooperative and averse to being examined it was not easy for the optometrist on duty to assess her vision. The parents could not offer any specific information on the nature of the injury, she seemed to have hurt herself while playing 10 days ago. Initially her uncle, an ophthalmologist, had seen her and advised topical antibiotics.
An examination by doctors at L V Prasad Eye Institute revealed that the vision in her right eye had been reduced to perception of light. There was gross proptosis (protrusion of the eyeball) and the cornea showed signs of exposure.
Anitha’s extra-ocular movements were restricted in all directions of gaze. A CT scan showed evidence of a swelling present superiorly and medially and displacing the globe. She was suspected to have a hemotoma, a localized swelling filled with blood, behind the eye. The blood was drained under general anaesthesia.
The child was followed up closely. As the corneal condition healed, vision improved and finally stabilized at near normal vision of 6/7.5 in the right eye. Appropriate diagnosis and timely intervention helped save Anitha’s eye and vision.
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