Eye burns: an emergency and continuing problem

Adequate treatment of eye burns is an essential task of rescue teams. Clini cal and occupational medicine studies have shown that efficient emergency t reatment can prevent severe eye damage, but therapy is frequently delayed o r inadequate. When initial therapy has been delayed or missed, several trea tment strategies, including surgery, are available that may improve the out come of an injury with poor Visual prognosis. Discussed in this review are common accident mechanisms, causative agents and biophysical/pathogenetic a spects of eye burns, together with emergency and long-term treatment strate gies including surgical procedures, and factors influencing outcome. (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.