Human Eye Response to Blast Overpressure

Each year, approximately two million people in the United States suffer eye injuries that require treatment [1]. Although it is suggested that blast overpressure can cause serious eye injuries, there is no clear evidence in the literature to support this injury mechanism. Conversely, projectile impacts have been shown to cause serious eye injuries [2, 3]. The critical question is whether blast overpressure alone can cause eye injury or if injuries are caused solely by projected material. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to measure the intraocular pressure (IOP) of postmortem human eyes during blasts and assess injuries sustained in order to more fully understand the effect of blast overpressure on the eye.