A Case of Ocular Perforation by an Acupuncture Needle Directly Through the Bulbar Conjunctiva

Hee Young Chung; Su Chan Lee; Jin Young Choi; Joon Hong Sohn; Duck Jin Hwang

doi:10.3341/jkos.2016.57.1.130

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Chung, Lee, Choi, Sohn, and Hwang: A Case of Ocular Perforation by an Acupuncture Needle Directly Through the Bulbar Conjunctiva

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2016;57(1):130-133.

Published online: 31 August 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2016.57.1.130

A Case of Ocular Perforation by an Acupuncture Needle Directly Through the Bulbar Conjunctiva

Hee Young Chung, M.D, Su Chan Lee, M.D, Jin Young Choi, M.D, Joon Hong Sohn, M.D, Duck Jin Hwang, M.D

Hangil Eye Hospital, Incheon, Korea

Address reprint requests to Duck Jin Hwang, MD Hangil Eye Hospital, #35 Bupyeong-daero, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon 21388, Korea Tel: 82-32-503-3322, Fax: 82-32-503-0801 E-mail: hallelu7@gmail.com

‗ Seoul ophthalmological symposium, Mar 21th, 2015.

Received 5 June 201530 July 2015 Accepted 15 October 2015

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose:

To report a case of ocular perforation by an acupuncture needle directly through the bulbar conjunctiva.

Case summary

A 62-year-old male visited our clinic with acute ocular pain and decreased vision in his left eye. He had received intraocular acupuncture therapy one day earlier. A slit-lamp examination revealed conjunctival hyperemia and vitreous prolapse at the superonasal quadrant of the bulbar conjunctiva. Grade one of anterior chamber cells was found in the left eye. Dilated fun-doscopy revealed three retinal hemorrhages at the superonasal quadrant of the retina; vitreous hemorrhage and opacity were al-so observed. Thus, vitrectomy and injections of intravitreal antibiotics were performed. Intraoperatively, we identified the entry site, located in the superonasal retinal quadrant, immediately behind the ora serratia. At the three-month postoperative fol-low-up, the patient’s visual acuity was 0.9 in the left eye and the retina remained flat with no postoperative complications.

Conclusions

We observed a case of ocular perforation and endophthalmitis following ocular acupuncture treatment. This case illustrates the dangers of intraocular acupuncture therapy.

Keywords: A cupuncture, Ocular perforation

References

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Figure 1.

Fundus photograph of the left eye 1 day after injury. (A) Retinal hemorrhages are observed in the superonasal quadrant of the retina (arrowheads), as well as vitreous hemorrhages and opacities. (B) Note the retinal tear (white arrow) and the direct lacer-ation across the retinal vessel (yellow arrow).

Figure 2.

Slit-lamp photography of the left eye 1 day after injury. We observed vitreous prolapse beneath the bulbar con-junctiva (dotted line).

Figure 3.

Optical quality analysis system images of both eyes 1 day after injury. The objective scattering index (OSI) was (A) 5.8 OS, and (B) 1.4 OD. OD = oculus dexter; OS = oculus sinister; deg = degree; arc min = minute of arc.

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