Issue 048
April 2009
Injury Spotlight: Detached Retina
What is it and how does it happen?
Injuries to the eye are relatively common in MMA competition. Most of these consist of tears or scratches to the tissue at the front of the eye. The most serious eye injuries though are those that involve damage to the back of the eye, the retina.
The retina is the layer of cells on the back of the eyeball that turn the image seen by your eye into electrical impulses that can be understood by your brain. With a ‘detached retina’, this layer peels away and can cause visual loss or blindness.
Despite it being illegal to gouge or poke the eyes directly, this can happen accidentally in the course of a match. A direct punch or thumb in the eye can also be the culprit, or even blows to the head that don’t make contact with the eye at all. Detached retinas may also happen on their own without any obvious cause, although this is more common in older people.
What does it feel like?
A detached retina by itself is usually painless, although there may be pain from other damage caused at the same time. The fighter might experience complete or partial loss of vision, blurred vision, flashes of light, and floaters (small, dark shadowy blobs that appear to move around in front of the eyes).
Who has it happened to?
Anthony Johnson was the victim of perhaps the best-known eye poking incident to date at UFN 14 where he went down in obvious pain after an open-handed strike from Kevin Burns. Referee Steve Mazzagatti controversially stopped the contest in favour of Burns, but replays clearly showed the cause of the collapse to be an illegal finger in the eye. The post-fight medical report officially declared him to have a “conjunctival laceration”, a generally much less serious injury. It turned out that he had also suffered damage to his retina that required laser surgery to correct. Fortunately, Johnson escaped with vision and career intact. UK fighter Mark Weir has also suffered with a detached retina, first in his Pride Bushido loss to Dennis Kang, and again eight months later against Zelg Galesic in Cage Rage.
Treatment
A detached retina is a medical emergency. The earlier treatment is carried out, the more effective it is likely to be in restoring and preventing loss of vision. There are various methods of treatment that might be used. It can involve laser surgery, injecting stuff into the eye, sucking stuff out of the eye, or sometimes attaching external splints to the eyeball.
How long can a fighter with this injury expect to be out for?
It depends entirely on the severity of the injury. Some fighters may return within months, whereas others will never be able to compete again. After any retinal injury, clearance to fight must be given by an ophthalmologist (eye doctor), as even slight tears or weaknesses in the retina can have serious consequences in a fight.
A fighter can have some minor damage to the retina without being aware of it. This is one reason why many of the US athletic commissions require a fighter to have a full eye-examination before being licensed to compete.
What long-term problems is it likely to cause?
A detached retina can result in loss of vision or blindness that may or may not recover after surgery. Even with a full recovery, a second detached retina may be more likely, and the fighter is also at a higher risk of future eye problems such as cataracts.
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