Pieces of ballpoint pen retained in nose after eye injury

Clinicians working in New Delhi, India, have described their treatment of a man in his 60s who impaled his left eye on a ballpoint pen in an accident at a construction site.

Writing in BMJ Case Reports, the authors shared that the patient presented to hospital with diminution of vision in his left eye and a nasal bleed after he accidentally fell on the pen – which the patient removed by himself at the construction site.

Following a globe exploration under general anaesthesia, a 35mm long plastic foreign body was removed from the scleral perforation and the scleral perforation was repaired.

However, after the patient was discharged, he continued to experience pain and left nasal blockage.

A series of operations were performed to remove remaining plastic pen fragments and the metal nib of the pen.

At a follow up a month following treatment, the patient only had light perception in the left eye. The symptoms of nasal stuffiness and nasal pain had subsided.

“The patient is currently leading his normal life, and has returned to his work,” the clinicians observed.