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Penetrating eye injury caused by eyelash curlers—a cause for concern?

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Abstract

Purpose

To report a case of open globe injury caused by eyelash curlers.

Methods

Interventional case report.

Results

A 19-year-old female presented with a history of accidentally poking herself in the left eye when her eyelash curlers broke suddenly. Initial assessment revealed a laceration in the infero-nasal cornea of the left eye. The patient was also noted to have developed a traumatic cataract. Surgical exploration of the penetrating eye injury also revealed damage to the posterior capsule of the lens. Lensectomy, anterior vitrectomy, and implantation of an intraocular lens were performed. The first day after the operation, the patient’s visual acuity in the left eye improved to 20/30 unaided. At 3-months follow-up, the sutures were removed and visual acuity remains at 20/30 unaided.

Conclusion

Our case represents an unusual cause of serious ocular injury in a domestic setting wherein appropriate and timely intervention resulted in a good clinical outcome.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Paul’s Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK

    Balasubramanian Ramasamy

  2. Countess of Chester Hospitals NHS Trust, Chester, UK

    Stewart Armstrong

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, St. Paul’s Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, Prescot Street, Liverpool, UK

    Balasubramanian Ramasamy

Authors
  1. Balasubramanian Ramasamy
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  2. Stewart Armstrong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Balasubramanian Ramasamy.

Additional information

The authors confirm the following: 1. The study was conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki2. The authors have no financial interest in any part of this study3. This article is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

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Ramasamy, B., Armstrong, S. Penetrating eye injury caused by eyelash curlers—a cause for concern?. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 248, 301–303 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-009-1073-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-009-1073-y

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