Profile of ocular emergencies in a tertiary hospital from Northeast of Brazil / Perfil das emergências oculares em um hospital terciário do Nordeste do Brasil

PURPOSE: To evaluate the profile of all the visits to the ophthalmic emergency service at a tertiary hospital in the city of Sobral, Ceará, northeast of Brazil. METHODS: A survey was carried out of all patients attended at ophthalmology emergency service of the department of ophthalmology of Santa Casa of Sobral, during the period between may and october 2008. Data on patient's age, sex, level of education, residential address, health insurance status, average distance to our service, time between the initial symptoms and first visit to the hospital, site of medical evaluation indication, diagnosis, and veracity of emergency indication. All these data were collected during interview and ophthalmological examination. RESULTS: A total number of 1,024 patients were analyzed in the study. Mean and standard deviation to age was 31.5 ± 17.1 years (ranging from zero to 81). Sixty-five per cent of the patients were male and 35 percent female. Twenty-one per cent of the patients lived at least 50 kilometers away from the Santa Casa of Sobral. Ocular traumas (40.9 percent) of any nature were the most frequent occurrence, followed by infections (29 percent). About 45 percent of cases were not considered as a true emergency and could be managed in primary or secondary health care centers. About the initial symptoms and first visit to the hospital, only 24 percent of the patients went to the ophthalmology emergency room on the same day in which their symptoms started. CONCLUSION: A great number of patients attended or treated at the ophthalmology emergency service of Santa Casa of Sobral presented with common ocular disorders of simple resolution. Therefore there is a failure in the primary and secondary health care to manage it. Certainly a considerable proportion of these patients had conditions which could have been diagnosed and treated in an ophthalmic outpatient clinic or by general practitioners.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o perfil dos atendimentos no serviço de emergência oftalmológica de um hospital terciário na cidade de Sobral, Ceará, nordeste do Brasil. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se um estudo em todos os pacientes atendidos no serviço de emergência do departamento de oftalmologia da Santa Casa de Sobral no período entre maio e outubro de 2008. Dados sobre idade e gênero dos pacientes, nível de escolaridade, origem, distância percorrida para chegar ao hospital, seguro de saúde, período entre os sintomas iniciais e o primeiro atendimento no hospital, origem do encaminhamento, diagnóstico e veracidade da emergência foram coletados durante entrevista e exame oftalmológico. RESULTADOS: Mil e vinte e quarto pacientes foram analisados no estudo. A idade média dos pacientes foi de 31,5 ± 17,1 anos (variando entre zero e 81). Sessenta e cinco por cento dos pacientes pertenciam ao sexo masculino e 35 por cento ao sexo feminino. Vinte e um por cento dos pacientes procederam de localidades distantes pelo menos 50 quilômetros da Santa Casa de Sobral. Traumas oculares (40,9 por cento) de qualquer natureza foram a ocorrência mais comum, seguido por infecções (29 por cento). Aproximadamente 45 por cento dos casos não foram considerados uma emergência real e poderiam ser tratado em níveis primário e secundário de atendimento. Apenas 24 por cento dos pacientes compareceram a emergência oftalmológica no mesmo dia do início dos sintomas. CONCLUSÃO: Muitos pacientes atendidos no serviço de emergência oftalmológica da Santa Casa de Sobral apresentaram doenças comuns, de simples resolução, o que pode ser reflexo de falhas na rede de atendimento primária e secundária. Certamente uma parcela destes pacientes poderia ter sido diagnosticada e tratada numa clínica oftalmológica ou por médicos gerais.

Clinical Features of Ocular Trauma in Emergency Department

This study analyzed a hospital-based study to investigate the incidence and clinical features of ocular traumatic emergencies in Korea. Over a 6-year period, 1809 patients with ocular traumatic emergency each individually underwent clinical study including subject characteristics, type of ocular emergency, disease severity, etiology of ocular trauma, injury location, cause of decreased visual acuity, management of ocular injury, and final visual acuity. The homogeneity of each finding of the clinical features of ocular traumatic emergency was tested by an X2 test at a 95% level of certainty. During follow-up periods ranging from 3 days to 23 months (mean 2.0 months), the 1809 patients with ocular traumatic emergency, 1183 males (65.4%) and 626 females (34.6%), were studied. The incidence of ocular emergencies peaked in the third decade of life, irrespective of gender (P< 0.05). Corneal abrasion was the most common etiology among 1, 552 (85.8%) closed injuries, and corneal laceration among 257 (14.2%) open injuries (P< 0.05). There were 542 cases (30%) of severe ocular injury, such as penetrating ocular injury, blow out fracture, and intraocular foreign body (IOF), and 1267 (70%) of less severe ocular injury, such as superficial ocular injury or contusion. The most common etiology of severe ocular injury was penetrating ocular injury, and that of less severe injury was corneal injury (P< 0.05). The main causative activity of ocular injuries was work in 631 cases (34.9%), assault in 398 (22.0%), play in 278 (15.4%), traffic accidents in 145 (8.0%) and sports in 128 (7.1%). Five hundred and fifty-four cases (32.5%) underwent surgical intervention. There was an improvement of visual acuity in 502 cases (70.1%), no change in 122 (17.0%), and worsening in 92 (12.9%). We suggest that preventive educational measures be instigated at workplaces to reduce the incidence of ocular traumatic emergency, especially severe ocular injury.