Incidence of Ocular Trauma in a Tertiary Hospital in Visakhapatnam

Abstract

BACKGROUND Ocular trauma is a major cause of preventable ocular blindness in the world. The present available data represents the tip of iceberg. The data pertaining to ocular trauma is just hospital based data which does not accurately represent the population at risk. The ocular morbidity may be disproportionate to the severity of injury. Though eyes represent only 0.21% of body surface area and 4% of facial area, they are the third most common trauma exposed areas after hands and feet. MATERIALS AND METHODS Our study group consisted of 341 patients who attended ophthalmology OPD with history of ocular trauma of whom 221 were males and 121 were females. The study was conducted over a period of one year. A complete anterior and posterior segment evaluation of all the patients was done. Other accessory ocular and systemic investigations wherever essential were done. RESULTS The ocular trauma was more common in males (64.52%) predominantly affecting patients of 20-40 years age group (36.07%). Most often the injuries were occupation related (73.90%) and the most common work related injury observed was extraocular foreign body in 134 patients (39.29%). Closed globe injuries were more common as compared to open globe injuries. Eyes with better visual acuity at presentation had better visual prognosis. Blinding trauma was observed in 29 patients (8.50%). CONCLUSION Ocular injuries are more commonly occupation related and mostly effect young males who are the main work force of our society. Stringent implementation of preventive norms in industries to all the workers and safety precautions during sports, driving need to be enforced.