Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2009 | Case report
Lamellar corneal injury by bamboo splinters: a case report
Published in: Journal of Medical Case Reports | Issue 1/2009
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Introduction
We report an unusual case of corneal lamellar injury caused by long bamboo splinters.
Case presentation
A 70-year-old Japanese man visited our hospital with a bamboo injury. Slit lamp examination revealed that a bundle of bamboo splinters had deeply penetrated the corneal stroma of the right eye from the nasal limbus. The splinters were approximately 8 mm in length, but had not perforated the anterior chamber. They were completely removed by superficial corneal incision alongside each splinter with no consequences. The eye has remained healed for 3 months postoperatively.
Conclusion
The bamboo splinters did not perforate the anterior chamber, although they were long and hard enough to do so. This may be because the spatula-like shape and flexibility of the bamboo splinters allowed them to penetrate the lamellar layer of the corneal stroma with ease, but with no perforation of deeper tissue.