People are engaged in last-minute shopping for firecrackers at Sheshadripura ground.The state government's restrictions allow firecrackers to be lit only between 8 pm and 10 pm from Friday to Tuesday.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Doctors, particularly ophthalmologists, surgeons, and burns specialists, are on high alert this festive season to attend to patients with firecracker-related injuries in Bengaluru.
At least nine cases have been reported in eye hospitals in the city, as of Sunday night.
By 4 pm on Sunday, Sankara Eye Hospital saw two cases of firecracker-related eye injuries. Both cases were non-grievous injuries to the victims’ left corneas (transparent outer layer of the eye).
A six-year-old boy sustained minor injuries to his eye while independently lighting a firecracker without adult supervision, while a seven-year-old boy was a bystander during a firecracker bursting incident and had some sparks hurt his eye.
At Narayana Nethralaya, seven cases of eye injuries were reported between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm.
Dr Pooja Khamar, consultant in cataract and refractive services at the hospital, said that of the seven, two people were adults while the rest were aged between 8 and 18 years.
“Four of them suffered mild injuries due to firecracker particles and smoke going into their eyes. Two of them suffered closed globe injuries- blunt force injury, no tearing or extensive injury. They are likely to recover complete vision,” she said.
One patient, aged 15, has suffered a tear in the eye, which would require surgical intervention and possibly a few more visits to the hospital, she said.
“He will recover his vision after surgery but it will not be the way it was before the injury,” she added.
Dr Sriranjani Iyer, a plastic surgery resident at Victoria Hospital, explained that most cases would come to the hospital overnight, between 10 pm and 4 am. “People burst crackers late at night and many people travel from towns and villages so it’s likely they’ll reach here around 6 am on Monday,” she said.
As of 10 pm, no firecracker-related injuries were reported at Victoria Hospital, Bowring Hospital, and Minto Eye Hospital.