I burned my eyes with lime. lime burn eyes

Contact with slaked lime powder in the eye can cause chemical burns. With such injuries, it is important to properly provide first aid, on which the success of further treatment depends. Let's find out how to do it.

Lime got into the eye - is it dangerous?

Hydrated lime powder, or calcium hydroxide, is a chemically active substance used primarily in construction. When working with this material, safety precautions must be observed. It is impossible that lime gets on the skin and in the eyes. It can cause severe burns that take a very long time to heal. If you burn your eyes with lime, there is a risk of completely and irretrievably losing your eyesight. This substance, being on the surface of the eyeball, reacts with the lacrimal fluid and begins to corrode soft tissues, penetrating deeper into them. It is important to quickly and correctly provide first aid to the victim.

Lime got into the eye - what to do?

In case of eye burns with acid and other chemical compounds, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the damaged organ of vision with running water. Washing should last 15-20 minutes. During this time, an ambulance should arrive.
It is categorically impossible to immediately start washing if slaked lime powder gets into the eye. It consists of many small crystals, which, when interacting with water, can cause even more damage. Crystals, when combined with liquid molecules, generate heat. Because of this, the burn intensifies.

To begin with, it is necessary to remove crystals of slaked lime from the surface of the eye and facial skin with a dry napkin, cotton wool, handkerchief. Only after that should you start washing. You can do this with running water. For comfort, sit the victim on a chair next to the sink, tilt his head and direct the stream of water into the eye. You can rinse until the doctor arrives. If the burn is severe and causes severe pain, give the victim pain medication.

Further treatment of an eye burn with lime

Even if a little lime got into the eye and you managed to quickly remove the crystals, you still need to contact an ophthalmologist. The doctor must assess the extent of the damage. He will determine if you need further treatment. With serious injuries, the course of therapy can last a long time. You will have to instill antibacterial drops in your eyes, change bandages, take various drugs. If first aid for an eye burn is provided correctly, then the probability of a complete recovery is 90%. It all depends on the extent of the injury. Sometimes such burns lead to a complete loss of visual functions, atrophy of the eyeball and other serious consequences.

When working with lime, observe safety precautions. The skin must be protected by clothing. You need to work with gloves. On the eyes should be special glasses that fit snugly to the face.

With a chemical burn of the eye, it is necessary to provide first aid to the victim in a timely manner. You need to know what measures to take in case of major and minor injuries. After rendering assistance, the person should be taken to the hospital, where he will be given the correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Complications after a burn are possible if the victim asked for medical help late, and if the burn turned out to be deep.

Causes and damaging substances

In ophthalmology, of all eye herbs, 5 to 15% are burns. Up to 75% of cases occur in production, the remaining 25% - in everyday situations.

Over 40% of chemical burns occur due to contact with the eyes of various alkalis. Among them are such caustic compounds as ammonia, slaked lime, caustic potash, ethyl alcohol, caustic soda.

About 10% of such injuries occur due to interaction with concentrated acids, such as hydrochloric, sulfuric or acetic. Other accidents include careless handling of building varnishes and paints, household sprays, herbicides, insecticides, calcium carbide.

There have been cases of contacting the clinic with erroneous instillation into the fundus of solutions not intended for these purposes (drops for the ears or any alcohol tinctures).

Reference Information! Some burns can occur due to the use of poor quality mascara or as a result of exposure to poisonous plants (the most common culprit in eye injuries is the hogweed flower). In self-defense, it is also possible to harm the eyes, for example, when using gas pistols and spray cans.

With alkaline exposure to the eyes, colliquaction necrosis develops, which manifests itself in the form of a hydrolytic effect on cell membranes, causing cell death and enzymatic destruction of tissues. Accurate information about the severity of damage can be obtained only after 48 - 72 hours.

Acid that gets into the eye causes coagulative necrosis, which is manifested by denaturation of cellular proteins and the appearance of a stupa. These pathological changes may be weakly expressed, and sometimes completely absent. Further, inflammation appears due to a toxic reaction and the addition of a secondary infection.

Degrees

Depending on the depth of the damaging effect, 4 degrees of chemical eye burns are distinguished:

1. I degree. Considered the easiest. Against the background of the resulting burn, conjunctiva and hyperemia of the skin eyelids are formed. A mild degree of damage is characterized by rapid healing of the burn and the absence of consequences.
2. II degree. It is average in terms of the degree of manifestation of damage. There is also swelling and slight necrosis of the conjunctiva. The epithelium of the corneal stroma is also affected, which affects the superficial grayish-cloudy color of the cornea. The skin of the eyelids is covered with burn vesicles.
3. III degree. There is severe necrosis of the conjunctiva and nearby tissues - eyelids, sclera and cartilage. It manifests itself in a yellowish or grayish-white color of the surface of these tissues, sometimes you can observe a matte sheen on the conjunctiva. The cornea becomes cloudy and its surface becomes dry. At this stage, iridocyclitis and cataracts often develop. Defects of the mucous membrane of the eye and cornea in the process of treatment and healing begin to scar. The damage itself affects no more than 50% of the surface of the eyeball.
4. IV degree. Particularly heavy. There is severe necrosis and charring of the conjunctiva and sclera. Affected throughout the depth of the cornea looks like an opaque porcelain-white plate. At stage IV, severe uveitis usually develops, catarrhal processes occur, and secondary glaucoma may develop. Corneal perforation often occurs.

Symptoms

When an eye burn occurs, the primary characteristic symptoms occur:

• strong pain;
• tearing;
• redness;
• edematous manifestations;
• fog appears before the eyes;
• unable to open the injured eye;
• at the slightest opening there is pain from sunlight;
• there is a feeling of interference in the eye;
• numerous blisters appear on the skin around the eye.

The most serious complications that can occur after a few hours or days after an injury are:

• decrease in visual acuity;
• swelling of the conjunctiva and the occurrence of hyperemia;
• development of perilimbal ischemia;
• increased pressure inside the eye;
• defective manifestations in the corneal epithelium;
• clouding of the stromal character;
• thinning of the cornea;
• inflammatory processes in anterior section eyes;
• scar formation on the surface of the conjunctiva.

Secondary complications may include:

• cataract;
• perforation, ulcer, corneal vascularization;
• subatrophy of the eyeball.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of eye burns is based on history and clinical picture. It is important for the patient to have a bottle of caustic liquid with him, which caused the injury to the eye. Without examining the source of the lesion, it will be quite problematic to draw up an accurate picture and the extent of the lesion.

If the person who applied for help could not provide samples of the damaging fluid, then it is necessary to take samples of his lacrimal fluid for analysis, in which particles of the substance necessary for study may remain.

Attention! Delay in providing assistance is not permissible, therefore, when a patient with a chemical burn is admitted, special ophthalmological examinations are not carried out.

First of all, with the help of a special apparatus of the eyelid lifter, the degree of damage to the eye is visually determined. It is important to pay attention to the fact that other parts of the body can suffer along with the eyes, so doctors evaluate the overall picture of injury.

It is necessary to conduct a study of visual acuity and measure intraocular pressure. A biomicroscopy procedure with fluorescein staining is used to detect ulcerative defects of the cornea.

First aid

First you need to try to remove and neutralize the foreign substance. You must act promptly and adhere to the following conditions:

• open the eyelids wide and rinse the affected eye with running warm water for 30 minutes;
• if there is saline or Ringer's solution on hand, it is also important to wash the affected area with them;
• the washing process should take place from the inner corner of the eye to the outer;
• in case of injury with powdered substances, for example, lime, before washing, remove the chemical irritant from the eye with a dry cotton swab;
• alkaline lesions are washed with water with the addition of vinegar or a 2% solution acetic acid;
• acid burn is washed with water with a weak soda solution.

To prevent the spread of infection, antiseptic preparations are instilled into the eyes. It can be a solution of furatsilina or sulfatsil - sodium. Suffered for the decline pain must take an analgesic tablet. After all the manipulations, the affected surface of the eye is covered with a clean napkin and seek medical help.

In order for specialists to quickly provide first aid, you need to take a vial with a damaging substance with you.

What Not to Do

With a chemical burn of the eye, one should not hesitate to provide first aid. Every second is precious. How longer man will endure pain and not take the first steps to get rid of the chemical, the more difficult will be the further consequences after treatment.

In no case should you rub your eyes, as this will contribute to the penetration of infection into them. Do not irrigate the eyes with healing liquids or healing sprays before flushing. First, rinse the eye area, and then process and apply clean wipes.

Note! Can't close your eyes eye drops, as this will not bring the desired effect and relief and may lead to complications. In order to mitigate blinking, do not lubricate the surface with sunflower or other types of oil.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the severity of the lesion. Moderate lesions are treated with a short course (about a week) of topical steroids, cycloplegia, and drinking antibiotics. The main goal of treating more complex and severe burns is to reduce inflammatory reactions and promote epithelial regeneration.

The therapeutic effect of certain drugs:

• Steroids. Reduce inflammation and neutrophilic infiltration. Treatment with these drugs should be carried out in the first days after the injury. The period of taking steroids should not exceed 10 days.
• Vitamin C. Affects the condition of the affected tissues and promotes rapid wound healing. Local application sodium ascorbate in a 10% composition is taken twice or up to 4 times a day.
• Lemon acid. Acts as a powerful inhibitor of neutrophil activity and reduces the intensity of the inflammatory response.
• Tetracyclines. Inhibit the activity of neutrophils, reducing the reaction of ulceration. They can be taken both locally and systemically. The most effective is doxycycline, which is consumed 100 mg. a couple of times a day.

If the doctor deems it necessary, then early stages a burn is performed by a surgical intervention, consisting of one or more methods:

• the soldered parts of the conjunctiva and symblepharon are removed;
• transplantation of conjunctival or mucosal flaps is carried out;
• ongoing corrective work on deformed eyelids;
• keratoplasty is performed;
• keratoplasty is performed.

Consequences and complications

Primary complications include conjunctivitis, erosion, clouding and swelling of the cornea, a strong increase in intraocular pressure, perforation and melting of the cornea.

Secondary complications include:

• repeated glaucoma;
• renewed cataract;
• scars at the site of healing of the conjunctival cavity;
• thinning of the cornea, its perforation;
• infectious or aseptic ulcer of the cornea;
• clouding and vascularization of the cornea;
• subatrophy of the eyeball.

Conclusion

Chemical eye burns can be caused by improper use of chemicals, both at work and at home. Most importantly, after a burn, rinse the entire surrounding area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe eye well and in no case rub it. You need to seek help from a specialist as soon as possible. The future health of the patient and his visual capabilities depend on the timeliness of treatment.

Lime burn is chemical damage skin, which has its own characteristics and can lead to adverse complications. When providing first aid, it is possible to minimize Negative consequences without leaving a single trace of damage on the surface of the skin.

It is not uncommon in everyday life, since everyone has to deal with various reagents at home or at work. One of them is quicklime, which is an alkali that can provoke a short time serious damage in contact with the skin and mucous membranes.

The reason is the ability of lime to emulsify and dissolve skin fats with the formation of persistent albuminates, which quickly penetrate into the deeper layers of tissues. Externally, you can see the formation of wet necrosis with a loose scab, which has a dirty white tint.

It spreads deep and to the sides, and the affected area is larger than the area of ​​contact with the chemical reagent. Damaged tissues lose their ability to quickly regenerate, and the wound healing period is delayed for a long time.

With extensive lesions and prolonged exposure to lime, alkalosis develops, leading to impaired cardiac activity and damage nervous system. When it hits the legs or arms, it often ends with a decrease in the protective functions of the dermis. It is dangerous to get alkali on the eyes, which can lead to loss of vision. The leading cause of burns is the violation of safety measures when handling chemicals at work or at home.

First aid for lime burns at home

Contact with lime on the skin or mucous membranes is accompanied by pain and characteristic symptom"soap skin", which indicates the beginning of the emulsification process. To prevent further damage, you should competently help the victim.

When lime comes into contact with the epidermis, call ambulance. Before her arrival, you can independently alleviate the condition of the victim.

You will need to remove all clothing that has come into contact with the reagent. Then you need to follow the instructions given, which varies depending on the type of lime.

For mild injuries with slight redness, recipes help. traditional medicine in the form of compresses with aloe or grated raw potatoes. Severe lesions should be treated exclusively in a medical facility. The victim must be comfortably arranged, given analgesics, and then call an ambulance.

Burn treatment

• Eyes. Drug therapy includes instillation of cytoplegic drugs ("Solcoseryl", "Atropine") to relieve pain and prevent the formation of adhesions. Antibacterial ointments and drops ("Ciprofloxacin", "Levomycetin") avoid infection, and inflammation is relieved by NSAIDs ("Nimesulide").

It is advisable to use artificial tears. Antioxidants are prescribed in injections ("Methylethylpyridinol"). Eye gels (“Dexpanthenol”) help to speed up regenerative processes and help to see, and antihypertensive drugs (“Dorzolamide”) help to relieve increased intraocular pressure. Useful physiotherapy and eyelid massage. In severe cases, surgery is indicated.

• Other parts of the body: with II and subsequent degrees of burns, therapy consists in open and closed therapeutic methods with the treatment of the burn surface, the use medicines with analgesic, antibacterial, cooling effect.

It is necessary to smear lesions with hydrophilic agents, use aerosols with Dexpanthenol, preparations with a hyperosmolar effect. Infusion therapy is also carried out, nutrient solutions and glucose are introduced. When indicated, a skin graft operation is performed.

Possible consequences of an eye burn

Can a person see everything after an eye burn with lime? With minor damage, there is a slight reddening, which can be seen in the photo on the Internet. It is possible to preserve visual functions without the formation of post-burn scars.

Severe cases end with the following consequences:

• walleye formation;
• infection of the conjunctival cavity;
• eye atrophy;
• the formation of entropion (turning eyelashes and eyelids to the eyeball);
• significant reduction in vision.

It is important to immediately provide first aid after a lime burn to the eyes and consult a doctor for subsequent treatment.

Rules for the use of lime

• store the reagent in a tightly closed container with an appropriate label;
• do not leave an open container with a reagent unattended;
• before work, you should take care of your own safety: put on a bathrobe, protective gloves, goggles;
• take the necessary care during use;
• clean up thoroughly after completion of work. workplace, remove protective clothing, goggles and gloves, take a shower.

Even if a small drop of a chemical substance enters, the affected area should be treated immediately to prevent damage to the deeper skin layers. In case of extensive damage or contact of the reagent with the eyes, a mandatory consultation with a specialist is required to help heal the wound.

Chemical damage with lime is dangerous by traumatizing the upper layer of the epidermis with subsequent spread to the underlying tissues. They cause severe pain and often provoke a state of panic in the victim and others.

The chemical appearance of burn injuries in severe cases may require surgical intervention. Timely and proper assistance will help to avoid long-term post-burn consequences and accelerate further recovery.

When the eyes are burned with lime (calcium carbide), the tissues of the eye apparatus are damaged. This type of chemical burn occurs when safety rules are not followed or a manufacturing failure occurs. A person can face such a problem at home and during the work process. How serious the consequences will be depends on how quickly and correctly medical care was provided.

Varieties and symptoms

Depending on where exactly the violation was localized, the burn can spread to the conjunctiva, eyelids or cornea. According to the severity of the disease, 4 degrees are distinguished. It is quite difficult to accurately diagnose it in the near future after the incident. This is due to the fact that at first the lesion looks insignificant, but after a few days serious consequences begin. There may be perforation of the cornea, its change and complete atrophy of the eye.

Therefore, in case of eye burns with lime (calcium carbide), urgent medical care will be required before visiting a doctor, after which the patient is urgently taken to the nearest trauma center.

Stages of tissue damage

Based on how much the chemical has affected the tissues of the eye apparatus, the patient may experience certain symptoms. Common manifestations include high sensitivity to light, decreased visual acuity, tissue swelling, redness of the mucosa and severe spasm.

1. Light. There is a slight damage to the epithelium. There is redness of the conjunctiva and a barely noticeable swelling. In rare cases, people also complain about erosion.
2. Medium severity. The chemical substance affects not only the epithelium, but also the surface layers of the skin, the cornea. On the skin bubbles appear. A film and erosion form on the mucous membrane.
3. Heavy. This form of burn is diagnosed with necrosis of the deep layers of the eye apparatus. The size of such a violation will occupy at least half of the eyelid, cornea and conjunctiva. Tissue necrosis occurs, against the background of which a white or yellow color. There is a strong swelling and the cornea becomes dull.
4. Particularly heavy. Necrosis of adjacent tissue is so deep that it occupies the entire depth of the cornea, conjunctiva and sclera. The eschar may be brown, yellowish, or gray in color. In my own way appearance the cornea resembles porcelain.

Of course, a burn with potassium permanganate crystals has a much stronger effect than lime, but even in this case, emergency medical care is required. Otherwise, a person may face irreversible consequences, including complete loss of vision.

Emergency care and further treatment

With this type of chemical burn, rinse your eyes under running water as soon as possible. In this case, the eyelids must be open or everted and reverse side. If you are injured at work where chemicals, then you need to rinse your eyes on a special hydrant.

Then you should try to remove fragments of calcium carbide. For this, tweezers or a wet swab are suitable. In order to eliminate particles, the lower eyelid should be pulled back, and the upper one should be bent. It will be quite problematic to do this on your own, so you should ask others about it.

Regardless of how severe the burn was, you must contact an ophthalmological hospital or other medical institution.

The sooner you get to see a doctor, the less likely it is to have irreparable consequences. It is necessary to visit a specialist in the first few hours after the trouble has happened. If for some reason you cannot get to an ophthalmologist, then Na2 EDTA should be instilled into your eyes every hour.

Employee medical institution based general condition the patient and the eye apparatus will prescribe a number of medications or give a referral for urgent hospitalization. In order to restore basic visual functions can be assigned antihistamines local or general purpose. It is also recommended to regularly rinse the eyes with water or tea infusion.

To eliminate spasm, atropine can be dripped into the conjunctival region and intramuscular injections can be made. After a lime burn, the patient is rarely sent to be treated at home. Usually he is left in the hospital for at least a few days to observe the condition and, if necessary, adjust the treatment.

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Eye burns are one of the most severe types of eye damage.

Occur in everyday life and at work from various reasons:

• physical ( heat, radiant energy) and
• chemical (alkalis, acids, various chemically active substances and mixtures).

According to the severity, depth and area of ​​the lesion eye burns, like skin burns, are divided into 4 degrees.

Distinguish according to localization burns of the eyelids, conjunctiva and cornea.

Accurate diagnosis of the severity of eye damage in burns is very difficult, since in the first hours and days after the injury it may look mild, and after 2-5 days severe irreversible changes in tissues, especially the cornea, up to its perforation and death of the eye, may appear. In this regard, all patients with eye burns after emergency treatment at the site of injury first aid or non-specialized medical care should be urgently delivered to the nearest trauma center, working around the clock on the basis of a stationary ophthalmological department.

Eye burn symptoms

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Photophobia, pain in the eye, spasm of the eyelids, redness, swelling of the skin of the eyelids and conjunctiva, decreased vision in all degrees of burns.

- Burns of the 1st degree (lungs) are characterized by superficial damage to the epithelium of the tissues of the eye in the form of redness and slight swelling skin of the eyelids and conjunctiva, slight edema of the corneal epithelium, less often erosion of the epithelium.

- Second degree burns moderate) are characterized by damage not only to the epithelium, but also to the surface layers of the eyelid skin proper, subconjunctival tissue and corneal stroma, which is manifested by the formation of blisters on the skin, surface films and erosions on the conjunctiva and cornea.

- Burns of the III degree (severe) occur with damage and necrosis of the deeper layers of eye tissues and occupy half or less of the surface of the eyelid, conjunctiva, sclera and cornea. Tissue necrosis looks like a white, gray or yellow eschar, the conjunctiva is pale, ischemic, edematous, the episclera is affected, the cornea has the appearance of ground glass.

- IV degree burns (especially severe) are characterized by even deeper necrosis of the tissues of the eye, occupying the entire thickness of the skin, conjunctiva, muscles, cartilage of the eyelid, sclera and cornea, and more than half of the tissue surface in terms of the affected area. The necrosis eschar appears gray-yellow or brown, and the cornea has a white porcelain appearance.

Thermal and thermochemical eye burns

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Attack agents in peacetime: hot steam, water, oils, flames, molten metal, chemical mixtures (contact burns).

Steam burns, fluids are more often combined with lesions of the skin of the face, body, limbs, but actually eyeball is affected less frequently and less severely due to the reflex of rapid closure of the palpebral fissure.

Contact burns differ in considerable depth at the small area of ​​defeat. In wartime, when combustible mixtures and thermonuclear weapons are used, the proportion of thermal burns increases. For example, napalm, the ignition of which gives a temperature of 600-800 ° C, causes extensive severe burns, often III and IV degrees.

Thermal and thermochemical burns of the eyes, as a rule, occur against the background of a general burn disease as a result of burns to the face and other parts of the body.

Chemical burns to the eyes

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Damaging agents:

• various inorganic and organic acids (sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric, acetic, etc.),
• alkalis (caustic potash, caustic soda, ammonia, ammonia, lime, calcium carbide, etc.),
• chemically active substances and mixtures used in production and agriculture, household chemicals (washing powders, glue, paints, pencils), medicines (tincture of iodine, ammonia, potassium permanganate, alcohols, formalin, etc.), cosmetics(ink, paints, lotions, creams, etc.), household aerosols, etc.

Chemical burns, especially alkaline ones, are distinguished by the speed of penetration of the damaging substance into the depths of the tissues of the eye. Already 15 minutes after the burn with alkali, metal ions are found in the moisture of the anterior chamber and deep tissues of the eye, causing irreversible changes in them. In this regard, the importance of the speed and activity of first aid to victims is great.

Emergency care for eye burns

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Emergency care for thermal burns of the eye

First aid is to rapidly cool the eye cold water and elimination of the damaging agent with water, cotton swabs, tweezers.

Health care includes anti-shock measures: local and general analgesia (dikain, novocaine, promedol, analgin), the introduction of liquids intravenously or subcutaneously, drip. Infection is being prevented. Treatment of the skin with alcohol, the introduction of antibiotics and sulfonamides into the conjunctival cavity in the form of drops, inside and intramuscularly. Laying in the conjunctival cavity of ophthalmic medicinal films with antibacterial drugs broad spectrum of action (sulfapyridazine, heptimycin, etc.). With extensive and contaminated injuries, tetanus toxoid and tetanus toxoid are administered.

Hospitalization emergency to a specialized ophthalmological department, if possible, on the basis of a burn center.

Emergency care for chemical burns of the eye

Urgent care consists in an urgent, long, thorough washing of the eyes with a stream of water, always with open or everted eyelids, it is better in specialized hydrants, which are necessarily equipped at workplaces in industries related to chemicals.

Features of the clinic of burns with alkalis, acids and other chemically active substances not of fundamental importance in the provision of emergency medical care:

• inactivation of the chemical agent by copious washing with water,
• careful removal of pieces of the damaging agent (lime, calcium carbide, etc.) from the mucous membrane and arches of the eyelids after eversion of the eyelids.

Anesthesia, local and general anti-shock measures, infection prevention are carried out according to the principles common to all eye burns.

Some features of first aid for individual chemical burns are as follows.

For lime burns and calcium carbide, in addition to the thorough removal of particles of the damaging substance from the eyes, it is necessary to use a special neutralizer - a 3% solution of EDTA (disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), which binds calcium into complexes that are easily excreted from the tissues of the eye.
Burns from potassium permanganate crystals, aniline pencils require careful removal (preferably under a microscope) of their particles from tissues, especially from the cornea. Specific antidotes of acylin are tannin (5% solution) and ascorbic acid (5% solution).

In case of contact with the eyes of household chemicals usually no other first aid is required other than copious rinsing with water.

Cosmetics cause allergic eye damage more often than chemical burns, therefore, in addition to washing with water and tea infusion, it is necessary to use antihistamines and desensitizing agents of general and local action.

In case of burns with chemical warfare agents, the eyes are abundantly washed with water and special antidotes. For example, an antidote for mustard gas is a 0.5% solution of chloramine locally, for lewisite - 3% unitil eye ointment.

In case of contact with the eyes of organophosphorus substances, the antidote is administered intramuscularly, and mydriatics (atropine) are instilled into the conjunctival cavity to eliminate the spasm of accommodation caused by this substance. Hospitalization emergency in the nearest ophthalmological institution.