Articles about Eye Health and Disease 2001
 

Eye Injuries from Bungee Cords

(From AJ Aldave MD, et al. Bungee Cord Associated Ocular Trauma. Ophthalmology 2001;108:788-792.)

Bungee cords are elastic cords with metallic S-shaped hooks at either end, used commonly to secure loads in cars, etc. Many occupational and recreational uses have been found for these cords. However, if one of the hooks is not adequately secured, or if the stress of the load causes the hook to straighten out, recoil forces can cause significant trauma. Both blunt and penetrating eye trauma are possible due to the design of the S-shaped hooks.

The study cited above was a retrospective chart review of subjects treated at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia between 9/94 and 9/99 for bungee cord related ocular trauma. Additional follow-up information was obtained as possible. 67 bungee cord related injuries were identified during the 60 month study period. 90% of these were male, with an average age of 36 years. Overall, the incidence of injury increased during the study period.

Details regarding the nature of these injuries are as follows:

• 91% of the injuries occurred when the hook released from the object it was secured to.

• In 2 cases, injury resulted when a child was playing with the cord.

• In 2 cases, the hook straightened out, causing release. In one case, the hook broke free from the cord.

• Final visual acuity after injury was obtained in 62 of 67 subjects, ranging from 20/20 to no light perception (complete blindness). The average final vision was 20/60, with 15% having vision worse than 20/400 (legally blind).

• Eye injuries included hyphema (blood in the front part of the eye) at 63%, damage to the fluid draining part of the eye (chamber angle) at 40%, retinal bruising (commotio retinae) at 55%, vitreous hemorrhage (blood in the back part of the eye) at 24%, eyelid laceration at 24%, and 7 subjects with ocular lacerations, 7 with traumatic cataract, and 4 with a retinal tear or detachment.

• 31% needed some sort of surgical intervention after injury. 3 eyes had to be removed due to irreparable injuries.

Because most of the injuries in this study occurred with the proper use of the bungee cords, it is likely that the rate of injuries will increase as the use of bungee cords increases. Previous authors have called for the J- or S-shaped hook to be replaced with a spring-loaded gate clip. This would have prevented most of the injuries in this study, which occurred after the hook spontaneously released, rather than after a separation of the hook from the cord.

 

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