• Jared R Younger, Adam R Fedyk, John G McHenry, and Preston H Blomquist.
• UT Southwestern, Department of Ophthalmology, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. JYoung@parknet.pmh.org
• Am. J. Ophthalmol. 2006 Jun 1; 141 (6): 1147-8.

PurposeTo report ocular and facial injuries caused by the use of electric immersion heaters in an inmate population.DesignProspective observational case series.MethodsData were recorded over a six-month period on age, gender, mechanism of injury, examination, and treatment of Dallas County inmates who experienced ophthalmic injuries from immersion heaters and were referred to a tertiary-care center.ResultsEight male inmates were treated for thermal ocular injuries, which occurred within jail cells as a result of cooking explosions from electric immersion heaters, known by inmates as "stingers." All patients had thermal eyelid burns, either first- or second-degree facial burns, and corneal abrasions with corneal edema. Corneal metallic foreign bodies were removed in one patient, and three patients underwent debridement for corneal sloughing.ConclusionsImmersion heater-related accidents may cause thermal injuries within the inmate population. Physicians evaluating incarcerated patients with ocular trauma should be aware of immersion heaters as a common cause.

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