Frequency and causes of ocular trauma among children attending Mulago Hospital Eye Department

Background: Ocular trauma is a frequent and avoidable cause of visual impairment. Injuries range from a small corneal epithelial abrasion to pen­etrating and globe rupture leading to blindness or poor vision. Hospital based studies of eye trauma indicate that about two thirds of those affected are male, predominantly children and young adults with injuries by sticks, stones, and metallic objects being the most.Objective: To examine the frequency, pattern and causes of ocular trauma among children at Mulago hospital using a hospital based descriptive cross- sectional study. Results: Of the 161 children seen with ocular trauma, 45.9% were aged 0-5 years, 32.3% were aged >5-12 years and 21.8% were aged >12-17years; the male to female ratio was 2.1. Sticks were the commonest agent of injury. The most common places of trauma was in the home and school, and the commonest activity at occurrence of injuries was playing and fighting. Only 2.5% of cases presented to the hospital within 24 hours. About a quarter presented with immediate visual acuity better than 6/18, while 19.2% presented with visual acuity worse than 6/18-6/60, and 44% presented with visual acuity worse than 6/60-NPL.Conclusion: The frequency of ocular trauma amongst children attending Mulago Hospital is high, one in every five children seen at the eye clinics had ocular trauma

Traumatismes oculaires suite à un accident du travail : étude bicentrique à Antananarivo

Introduction : Les traumatismes oculaires peuvent être graves et entraîner une cécité même avec une prise en charge spécialisée. Cette étude visait une détermination des aspects épidémio-cliniques des traumatismes oculaires au décours d'un accident du travail. Méthodes : Etude rétrospective descriptive sur une période d'une année allant de janvier à décembre 2013, portant sur 215 cas de patients victimes de traumatisme oculaire suite à un accident du travail, vus en consultation dans deux grands hôpitaux d'Antananarivo. Résultats : Vingt virgule quarante-sept pour cent (20,47%) des cas de traumatismes oculaires vus en consultation relevaient d'un accident du travail. La population d'adultes jeunes était la plus concernée (29,77%) avec une prédominance du genre masculin (95,81%). Les soudeurs et les travailleurs en ouvrage métallique étaient les professions les plus en cause avec respectivement 20% et 15,81%. De manière générale, l'agent traumatisant était un corps étranger de nature métallique. Il s'agissait d'une atteinte unilatérale dans la plupart des cas. 4,65% des patients ont présenté des séquelles dont 3 éviscérations. Tous les accidents sont survenus sur le lieu de travail. Seuls 2,33% des travailleurs portaient des lunettes de protection. Conclusion : Une meilleure prévention par l'utilisation de lunettes de protection serait indispensable pour réduire les accidents. Le rôle préventif revient au médecin du travail

Patterns of Ocular Trauma at the Main Referral Hospital in Rwanda: Kigali University Teaching Hospital

Background: Eye injuries are the most common cause of referral to the Ophthalmology department; KUTH. No research data is available on ocular trauma in Rwanda. To understand the impact of eye injuries in KUTH and to plan for preventive strategies; it is important to understand the magnitude of this problem. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the patterns of ocular trauma at Kigali University Teaching Hospital. Methods: In this retrospective study; 352 reviewed patients were referred to KUTH; from January 1st; 2007 to January 1st; 2013. Patient's ocular trauma details were recorded and analyzed. Patients' demographic data; medical history; diagnosis; treatment and possible complication were retrieved from files in archive and recorded on a questionnaire for further analysis. Results: Out of the 352 patient's files; 72.7 were males and 27.3 were females. The male to female ratio was 2.7. Majority of patients were of age group between 11 and 40 years. Among files reviewed; 75.2 sustained blunt ocular injuries whereas 22.1 sustained penetrating injuries. Main risk factors for those injured patients were work place injuries (37); road traffic accident (21) and assault (15). Most frequent offending agents were pieces of wood (21.5); foreign bodies (16.4) and vehicle crush (16.1). However; metal objects; motorbike and stone missile represented important causes of ocular trauma at KUTH respectively 13.9; 13.06 and 11.07. A big number of patients were found to have corneo-limbal perforation (29.2); corneal abrasions (18.4); corneal abrasions (18.4); sub-conjunctival hemorrhage (17.8) and peri-orbital injuries (17.6). The common visual acuity observed on the affected eye on admission was (6/60-3/60) (38) and below 3/60 (30). The main post-traumatic complication at KUTH was corneal scaring (42.04). Conclusion: Males and young patients were more affected by ocular injuries because of their involvement in high risk activities in their daily life. Blunt and penetrating ocular injuries were two main types of ocular trauma recorded. Work place ocular injuries; road traffic accident and assaults were the main risk factors of ocular trauma at KUTH. Piece of wood; ocular foreign bodies and vehicle crush were the main offending agents causing ocular injuries. Main diagnoses in ocular trauma were corneo-limbal perforation; corneal abrasion and sub-conjunctival hemorrhage. On admission; most of injured patients had visual acuity (6/60-3/60) and below 3/60. Management of ocular trauma mainly described at KUTH was antibiotherapy and steroid therapy; however surgery was performed for penetrating trauma and conservative treatment for few cases. The most common complication due to ocular trauma at KUTH was corneal scaring