Angle recession in fireworks-related blunt eye injuries with hyphaema

Aim: To evaluate the incidence and extent of angle recession in patients with hyphaema following fireworks-related blunt eye injuries. Methods: Twenty six patients with unilateral hyphaema due to fireworks-related injury during the celebration of Charshanbe-Soori (Wednesday Eve Festival) in Iran were included in this series. Their median age was 18 years (range, 7 to 50 years) and 21 patients (81%) were men. Two examiners independently performed gonioscopy on both eyes of these patients 4 to 6 weeks after the injury. Results: Sixteen patients (62%) had angle recession with a mean extension of 180° (range, 45° to 360°). Ten of these patients (63%) had an average recession of ≥180°. All cases of angle recession were associated with injuries caused by 'narenjak', an illegal, home-made grenade. Patients injured by narenjak were older, and teenagers and children tended to be closer to the focus of the fireworks. Conclusion: Angle recession proved to be very common and extensive among patients with hyphaema who were injured by fireworks at the time of Charshanbe-Soori. The use of illegal home-made grenades was the most important risk factor for the occurrence of angle recession.