Ocular complications of bungee jumping

Retinal detachment secondary to bungee jump

Bungee jumping is a recreational sport that involves head-first jumping from certain heights with an elastic cord attached to the person's leg. It has the potential to develop ocular complications ranging from subconjunctival hemorrhage to retinal hemorrhage and even retinal detachment.

Case presentation

Here, the authors report a case of a 28-year-old myopic male with Left-Eye retinal detachment secondary to a bungee jump.

Discussion

In recent years, a few case reports have archived a variety of visual injuries caused by bungee jumping. But only few literatures have reported the event of retinal detachment related to bungee jumping. Patients with moderate to high myopic refractive error may have different vitreous and retinal changes, like vitreous degeneration, lattice degeneration, and peripheral retinal tears. The authors accept that these retinal findings are more related to the vitreoretinal traction mechanism leading to retinal detachment in bungee jumping.

Conclusion

This case highlights that retinal detachment secondary to a bungee jump is a rare but serious ocular manifestation, and bungee jumping should be considered a risk factor for retinal detachment in predisposed patients.

Valsalva retinopathy induced by handstand: a case report

Background

Valsalva retinopathy is known to occur as a sudden preretinal or sub-internal limiting membrane hemorrhage induced by a rapid rise in venous pressure following increased intrathoracic or intraabdominal pressure. Here we report a case of Valsalva retinopathy that was probably induced by straining that occurred due to following a handstand.

Case presentation

A 15-year-old boy became aware of decreased visual acuity in his left eye immediately after doing a handstand for approximately 10 s during physical education class, and subsequently visited a local clinic on the same day. Upon examination, a vitreous hemorrhage (VH) in the posterior pole of the fundus was found in his left eye, and he was subsequently referred to our department 7 days later. Upon examination, the VH around the optic nerve head of the left eye appeared to be resolved, and an oval-shaped sub-internal limiting membrane (sub-ILM) hemorrhage was found in the superonasal side of the optic nerve head. No abnormalities were observed in the macular area. Four months later, the sub-ILM hemorrhage was found to have spontaneously resolved. Subsequent fluorescein angiography examinations revealed no abnormal findings at the lesion site.

Conclusions

In this patient, we hypothesize that the Valsalva retinopathy was induced by straining that occurred due to a handstand, and that the resultant sub-ILM hemorrhage progressed to VH.

Impact of resistance training sets performed until muscular failure with different loads on intraocular pressure and ocular perfusion pressure

PURPOSE

The aim of this article is to investigate the acute effects of bench press sets leading to muscular failure with different loads on intraocular pressure and ocular perfusion pressure.

STUDY DESIGN

A randomized experimental study.

METHODS

Seventeen physically active young men performed four resistance training sets of bench press to muscular failure against different relative loads (65% one-repetition maximum vs 75% one-repetition maximum vs 85% one-repetition maximum vs 95% one-repetition maximum). Intraocular pressure was measured before and immediately after the execution of each of the four sets, and ocular perfusion pressure was also assessed before and after physical effort.

RESULTS

We found that intraocular pressure increased after reaching muscular failure (p < 0.001, ƞ²= 0.52), being also dependent on the interaction load × point of measure (p < 0.001, ƞ²= 0.33). Our data demonstrated that higher intraocular pressure increases were found when participants performed the bench press exercise against heavier loads, showing statistical significance for the 75% one-repetition maximum (p = 0.020, d = -0.63, mean change = 0.9 mmHg), 85% one-repetition maximum (p = 0.035, d = -0.56, mean change = 1.4 mmHg), and 95% one-repetition maximum (p < 0.001, d = -1.36, mean change = 2.9 mmHg) relative loads. For its part, ocular perfusion pressure showed a reduction after exercise (p = 0.009, ƞ²= 0.35), being these changes independent on the load used.

CONCLUSION

Bench press exercise leading to muscular failure provokes an acute intraocular pressure rise, with greater changes when heavier loads are used. Ocular perfusion pressure exhibited an acute reduction after exercise; however, its clinical relevance seems to be insignificant (lower to 4%). We argue that the use of heavy loads, when training to muscular failure, should be discouraged in order to avoid acute intraocular pressure fluctuations. Future studies should corroborate the generalizability of these findings in glaucoma patients.

Femoral Shaft Fracture during Bungee Jump: A Case Report and Literature Review

Bungee jumping is a recreational sport that is accepted to carry a level of risk. We present the case of a femoral fracture sustained during bungee jumping and examine the published literature on bungee jumping-related injuries. A previously well 31-year old female performed a 200ft bungee jump from a crane. The apparatus was performed as expected and documented on the bystander video footage. As the bungee-cord became taut for the second time, there was an audible crack with accompanying scream. A closed, neurovascularly-intact injury was sustained to her right thigh. Radiographs revealed a comminuted mid-diaphyseal spiral femoral fracture, which was treated with intra-medullary nail fixation the following day. Following loss of position with proximal fragment flexion, the intramedullary nail was revised with open reduction and cerclage wiring 6 weeks later. Progression to clinical and radiological union was uneventful. Fatalities in bungee jumping are generally secondary to trauma as a result of equipment malfunction, user error, or related to pre-existing co-morbidity2. As no records are kept on bungee jumping injuries in the UK, reliable statistics are not available regarding the relative risks of this sport. We conclude that incidence of bungee jumping injuries is likely to remain low, but consider that improved recording of bungee jumping-related injury data will allow providers to give customers a realistic quantification of risk before engaging in this sport.

Ocular injuries after bungee jumping: A case report and literature review

We report a case of ocular injury after bungee jumping. A 29-year-old woman presented with bilateral subconjunctival hemorrhage and periorbital petechiae after bungee jumping. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes. Ocular examinations revealed no other intraocular hemorrhages. She received conservative treatment. One week later, the subconjunctival hemorrhage and periorbital petechiae resolved spontaneously. Her vision remained stable, and no detectable ocular complications were found during the follow-up. In conclusion, bungee jumping can cause ocular injuries. Further studies are required to identify their causes and potential risk factors.

[Partial homonymous hemianopia of traumatic origin after riding a high-speed amusement ride]

Amusement park injuries have become more common in recent years. Especially neurological symptoms dominate clinical findings. In this article, the case of a 15-year-old child with homonymous hemianopia due to an atypical intracranial bleeding with subdural hematoma after a giant swing ride is described for the first time.