Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
System for Focal, Closed-System Central Nervous System Injury
Published on: November 29, 2024
[Serious fireworks-related eye injuries in Alsace (France)]
1Service d'ophtalmologie, Nouvel hôpital civil, hôpitaux universitaires de Strasbourg, 1, place de l'Hôpital, 67091 Strasbourg cedex, France. caroline.marsal@chru-strasbourg.fr
Aim:
The purpose of the study was to review cases of serious fireworks-related eye injuries presented in the Strasbourg (France) University Hospital ophthalmology emergency department and to analyze epidemiological and clinical data such as visual outcomes and risk factors.
Method:
A 13-year retrospective study (1994-2007) including fireworks-related ocular and adnexal injuries requiring hospitalization was conducted.
Results:
Thirty-nine patients were reported; 95% were male. The mean age was 19.38 years old. There was 61.5% contusions, 33.3% eye and adnexal burns, and 15.4% of the patients suffered from a penetrating injury. More than half of the patients required emergency ophthalmic surgical procedures. Twenty-six percent of the patients had final visual acuity of 20/400 or less.
Conclusions:
Fireworks are a cause of severe eye injury in France. These injuries are potentially preventable, especially in young males.
