History

Patient was walking on deck and a piece of debris flew into his right eye. Despite wearing his safety glasses, he had an instant foreign body sensation. Secondary to extreme discomfort, he had difficulty tolerating proper eye irrigation.

Solution

Topical anesthetic drops were applied so that he could tolerate proper eye washing. Fluoroscene was then applied so the physician could determine whether or not there was a corneal abrasion (scratch) or other potential ocular trauma.

Physical Exam

Onsite visual acuity was performed and determined to be 20/30 in both the affected and unaffected eyes. No abrasions or other trauma were identified by the examining physician. See video…

Outcome

Patient successfully removed the foreign body with irrigation after topical anesthetics were applied. Had the examining physician not been able to anesthetize the eye, examine the eye and determine visual acuity, he would have had to assume an abrasion. However, no prescriptions were necessary and the patient was able to remain on location.