Ocular injury caused by an air bag for a driver wearing eyeglasses

Although air bags have been shown to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents, there have been many reports of air bag-related ocular injuries. We recently treated air bag-related corneal laceration in a patient wearing eyeglasses at the time of a motor accident.

A 38-year-old Japanese man was driving a car at approximately 40 km per hour when he struck a stopped 2-ton truck. He was wearing a three-point lap-shoulder seat belt. At impact, the driver's-side air bag deployed and struck the man on the left side of his face. He was wearing eyeglasses with glass lenses, and the air bag broke the left lens of his eyeglasses, and glass fragments lacerated his cornea.

External examination showed multiple superficial abrasions of the skin and ecchymosis of the left side of his face. Slit-lamp examination of his left eye showed corneal laceration and hyphema. The lens had opacities and was covered with fibrin membrane. Repair of the corneal laceration and phacoemulsification of the lens were performed. Six months later, his best corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in the left eye.

As cars are increasingly equipped with air bags, reports of air bag-related eye injuries have increased. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of corneal laceration caused by a shattered lens in an air bag-related injury. Ophthalmologists should caution patients about the danger of eye injuries in air bag-equipped cars, and thought should be given to improving the materials for eyeglasses.