Aerated drink bottles should be handled with care: Experts

Carbonated drink bottles need careful handling else they might cause severe damage, as Chandra T, a 37-year-old resident of Arakere, learnt the hard way.

Chandra, who works in a bakery, was keeping aerated drink bottles in a refrigerator when two of them exploded, sending glass shards flying all around. A broken piece of glass struck Chandra's right eye. Doctors operated upon Chandra, who, however, is yet to regain his complete vision.

"Like any other day, I was just placing the freshly delivered soft drink bottles in the refrigerator at the bakery. Unexpectedly, two bottles collided with one another and burst into pieces. One glass piece hit me in the right eye," he said.

Chandra was immediately rushed to Shekar Nethralaya. On examination he was found to have suffered severe vision loss and his upper eyelid was torn. The eyeball too was severely injured, necessitating immediate surgery.

"He had injuries at various levels of the right eye including the conjunctiva, sclera, choroid and retina. He almost didn't have any vision in this eye. He was immediately taken for surgery, where the injured layers were stitched. Though there was very little hope of his vision being restored, to our surprise, a day after the surgery it was found that Chandra had recovered almost 40% of his vision," said Dr Srinivas KL, senior consultant, Shekar Nethralaya Super Speciality Eye Hospital.

The surgery was performed on August 30 and Chandra is yet to regain complete vision.

"I am having blurred vision and doctors say that till now I have only got back 60% of my vision. However, they have assured me that 90% of my vision will be back in some time," he said. Till then, he has to go to the hospital for regular checks.

"Chandra is still suffering internal bleeding and it will settle down on its own. We will have to give laser therapy for his retina, so that almost 100% of the vision can be restored," said Dr Srinivas.

The treatment will take at least six weeks, he mentioned.