Baseball has always struck me as an odd sport. Your trying to hit a small, hard speherical object hurled at close to 100mph. If you do make contact, the ball can travel at 100mph. Luis Salazar knows all about this as he was struck in the face by a foul ball hit by Brian McCann.
Luis was in the dugout when Brian’s foul ball struck him. He was knocked out and hit the ground very hard. While emergency crews were onsite, they couldn’t save the eye at the hospital. The doctors decided to remove the eye, which is called enucleation of the eye. It is the last resort for a damaged eye and is designed to protect the orbital structure from any further damage.
Brian McCann feels awful about the situation:
When you deal with this, you just have to pray for the best. There’s nothing you can do. It’s just a helpless, sick feeling. I just immediately started thinking about his family, his kids and his wife. You just hope everything is going to be all right.
Why is enucleation of the eye performed? Removal of the eye occurs usually for two reasons: 1) Cancer and 2) Trauma. In Luis’ case the trauma to his eye caused irreparable damage. This damage can lead to infection, which threatens the continued viability of his orbital lobe and can spread to the rest of his head.
How is enucleation of the eye performed? The patient is placed under anesthesia either locally or generally with the determination made based on the injury type and any spread of damage. The surgeon then removes the muscles connected to the eye and then the optic nerves.
What is the recovery time for enucleation of the eye? Recovery time happens quickly due to the fact the orbital cavity is surrounded by bone. While pain is present it can be mitigated by narcotics. Dressing should be applied for a week to help the healing process. Within four weeks an ocular prosthetic can be fitted and used.
How do you rehab from enucleation of the eye? Well, it’s going to take a while for you to adjust to having only one eye. Depth perception is the first issue, but your brain will work around this after a period of time. An ongoing concern is infection of the ocular cavity, but proper sanitation will prevent this.
Here is an actual video of the eye enucleation procedure: