[Penetrating and perforating eye injuries with foreign bodies during motorized brush-cutting while wearing head...

Protective clothing is prescribed concerning gloves, shoes, protective trousers and a helmet for protection of hearing and the face during brush-cutter work.

Seven patients were observed in a time period from 1994 to 1998. Mostly a nylon head protection had been used. The side of the helmet has no protection shield. The 1- to 4-mm large foreign bodies passed the head protection shield from the side or by entering through the holes of the nylon mesh which may be not small enough to stop the foreign body. A pars plana vitrectomy with foreign body removal was performed after primary wound repair.

An endophthalmitis was diagnosed in two patients after primary wound treatment. In these cases, a pars plana vitrectomy and antibiotic instillation was performed. In 5 patients visual acuity increased postoperatively. We measured a postoperative visual acuity from 1/50 to 1.6. The development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy with retinal detachment in 4 patients was the main complication observed after pars plana vitrectomy.

A cosmetically satisfactory appearance of the injured eye was reached by pars plana vitrectomy in all patients. Anatomic and functional success was reached in most of the patients. For prophylaxis, a head-protection seems not safe enough. The additional usage of eye protection glasses may be imperative for the prevention of these eye injuries.