Pattern of pediatric eye injuries in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Childhood ocular trauma is a preventable cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. This prospective study was conducted to explore the profile of eye injuries in pediatric patients referring to a tertiary eye center in Tehran, Iran. Six hundred consecutive pediatric patients aged 17 or less who presented to emergency department of Farabi Hospital were enrolled. Age and sex of pediatric patients, time of trauma, time between trauma and presentation, place of injury, etiology of eye injury, visual acuity, and type of injury based on Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology were collected. Mean (±SD) age of cases was 7.9 ± 4.8. Male to female ratio was 2.3:1. More than 70 % of the patients presented less than 12 h after ocular trauma. Most injuries occurred at home (57.7 %) followed by street (20.3 %). Twelve patients had visual acuity lower than 0.1 at initial visit. Projectile trauma was the most common cause (35.8 %) followed by blunt trauma (33.3 %). 86.3 % of traumatic events consisted in closed globe injuries. Parents should be involved more effectively in care and supervision of their children especially for boys, at home and on holidays.

Profile of pediatric eye trauma at Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal (HBDF), Brasília, Brazil

“…3 The group of special interest from the point of view of prevention are children under the age of 8 years at risk of amblyopia, an injury that should be treated and monitored regardless of the involvement of the trauma itself, as it may cause persistent and irreversible visual loss, which has a great impact when it comes to children who still have a long life expectancy. 1 The present study confirmed that accidents occur most often at home, 2,4,6,8,[15][16][17][18] diverging from other research, where 67.3% occurred on the street. 17 In relation to time, most injuries occurred between 2 pm and 8 pm (51%), which corroborates with the literature.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] For this reason, gender is considered to be a strong risk factor. 2,[4][5][6]8,[14][15][16] The male:female ratio varies according to the population and age group, reaching 5.2:1. 13 However, in most studies 2,[4][5][6]8,[14][15][16] the ratio is between 2 to 3:1, which corroborates with this study.…”

“…17 In relation to time, most injuries occurred between 2 pm and 8 pm (51%), which corroborates with the literature. 2,15,16 A Nigerian study 21 indicated that 24.9% of accidents were caused by an adult. In a study published in Thailand, 6 the patient was responsible in 18.6% of cases, followed by classmates (16%) and siblings (6.7%), similar to this research.…”

Characteristics of pediatric and adult cases with open globe injury and factors affecting the visual outcome: a retrospective analyses of 294 cases from Turkey

“…Many epidemiological studies have reported that ocular trauma is more common among males than among females. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In our sample, ocular trauma was also more frequent in males, with the male:female ratios of 1.4:1 and 6:1 in the pediatric and adult groups, respectively.…”

“…[16] In addition, similar results were reported by studies in the literature. [19][20][21] A Chinese study comprising overall age groups reported that the majority of ocular traumas were work related and resulted in substantial loss of vision. [22] According to our outcomes and the results of all these studies, it appears recommendable to take measures at home to protect children from danger, as well as at work, by wearing safety goggles to prevent accidents leading to ocular trauma.…”