Open Eye Injury

Anesthetic management of patients presenting for urgent or emergent eye surgery after penetrating eye injury is challenging primarily because of the risk of extrusion of ocular contents if intraocular pressure becomes elevated. Additional concerns include risk of aspiration in patients with a full stomach, and the possibility of associated traumatic injuries (e.g., orbital or cranial trauma). A foreign body in the eye is the most common type of eye trauma, accounting for 35% of all eye injuries. Open wounds and contusions each account for about 25% of injuries, while the rest are burns. Nearly 35% of eye injuries occur in patients ≤17 years old. Although eye injury is not a significant cause of total blindness, it is the most common cause of monocular blindness.