Metal piece lodged in Mumbai youth’s eye taken out through nose
Doctors said he had developed diplopia -- a condition in which a person sees two images of one single object.
Doctors at the RN Cooper Hospital in Juhu removed a piece of a metal screw that was lodged in the right eye of a 19-year-old for two months through his nose.
Asfar Khan, a Juhu resident, said the metal ricocheted into his right eye when his brother was hitting an iron nail on the wall at their home. “The piece went straight into my eye and it started bleeding. Although the pain subsided, I developed double vision,” said Khan.
Doctors said he had developed diplopia -- a condition in which a person sees two images of one single object. “A CT scan revealed a 1.5-cm long object was stuck in his eye,” said Dr Sameer Bhargava, Ear Nose Throat (ENT) surgeon at the hospital.
Bhargava said there was a possibility of loss of vision. “The object had lodged very close to the optic nerve, which transmits impulses to the brain. If the metal piece had cut this nerve, it would have led to an irreparable vision loss.”
Doctors said removing the piece directly would have caused a lot of damage, which is why they decided to access it through the nose. “It is very rare to remove foreign objects stuck in the eye through the nose. We used the endoscopy technique to remove the piece through the nose,” said Dr Shashikant Mhashal, head of ENT department at the hospital. “We had to cut through the bone on the roof of the nose,” he added.
Khan said the pain has reduced and his vision has improved. “I am so grateful that I did not lose my vision. My eye still looks red, but doctors said it will improve over time,” Khan said.