open access
Head injury and anisocoria on a cruise ship
open access
Abstract
A previously healthy 65-year-old female passenger presented on the 3rd day of her voyage with a small facial laceration after she fell and hit her forehead, following sudden blurred vision and dizziness. When the ship’s doctor noticed that one pupil was much bigger than the other, he feared intracranial bleeding and considered helicopter evacuation.
Her symptoms had started shortly after she had removed a transdermal scopolamine patch from behind her ear. Getting scopolamine from her hands in direct contact with the eye surface caused mydriasis. To prevent it, after handling the patch, the hands and the application site should have been washed thoroughly with soap and water and dried.
Only time was needed for the dilated pupil to normalise.
Abstract
A previously healthy 65-year-old female passenger presented on the 3rd day of her voyage with a small facial laceration after she fell and hit her forehead, following sudden blurred vision and dizziness. When the ship’s doctor noticed that one pupil was much bigger than the other, he feared intracranial bleeding and considered helicopter evacuation.
Her symptoms had started shortly after she had removed a transdermal scopolamine patch from behind her ear. Getting scopolamine from her hands in direct contact with the eye surface caused mydriasis. To prevent it, after handling the patch, the hands and the application site should have been washed thoroughly with soap and water and dried.
Only time was needed for the dilated pupil to normalise.
Keywords
head injury, anisocoria, mydriasis, anticholinergic adverse effect, scopolamine, motion sickness, maritime medicine
About this articleTitle
Head injury and anisocoria on a cruise ship
Journal
Issue
Article type
Case report
Pages
159-160
Published online
2016-09-27
Page views
993
Article views/downloads
1283
DOI
10.5603/IMH.2016.0029
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
IMH 2016;67(3):159-160.
Keywords
head injury
anisocoria
mydriasis
anticholinergic adverse effect
scopolamine
motion sickness
maritime medicine
Authors
Eilif Dahl
