Clinical Evaluation of Ophthalmic Injury Associated with Head Injury

ABSTRACT

Secondary eyeball injury can be caused by head injury as well as direct injury of the eyeball or the orbit. Authors of this report have researched on 117 patients who were applied for ophthalmic examination which in care of the neurosurgical department and have researched frequency of secondary eyeball injury, association between the eyeball injury and the head injury, and favourable frequency of the eyeball injury which were developed without direct injury of the eyeball. There were 21 eyes(9.0%) with external ocular abnormality in 18 patients which included lagophthalmos, ptosis, paralytic strabismus, and there were 14 eyes(6.0 %) with posterior segment abnormality which were vitreoretinal hemorrhage, option. injury and papilledema in 11 patients. In association between the head injury and the eyeball injury, there were many external paralytic injury in basal skull injury and many posterior segment injury in cerebral parenchymal injury. After their injury, follow-up was executed in 3 month interval for 12 month. 15 eyes with external ocular abnormality and 8 eyes with posterior segment abnormality showed favourable progression. Posterior segment abnormality improved statistically significant at 3 month after injury(p<0.05). Secondary ophthalmic injury can be caused by various head injuries. Based on periodic observation, external ocular abnormality improved frequently at more than 9 months after injury. In cases of posterior segment abnormality, there was statistically significant improvement at 3 month after injury(p<0.05). Thus careful observation and treatment should be made in its early stage.