A clinical study of childhood penetrating ocular trauma in a tertiary care center in Southern India

Abstract

Aims: Ocular trauma is one of the major causes of monocular blindness in the pediatric age group, causing significant visual morbidity. The purpose of this study is to identify the causes, types, location of injuries, and clinical features due to ocular trauma in a tertiary care center. Settings and Design: It is a retrospective hospital-based observational study. Materials and Methods: Demographic details of 69 consecutive patients up to 14 years of age who were hospitalized for primary repair of penetrating ocular injuries during March 2017 to March 2019 were documented and evaluated. Results: Fifty-six (81.16%) children were male. The mean age was 8.31 ± 3.96 years. Thirty-one (44.93%) were in the 6–10-yearage group. The most common cause of injury was with wooden stick in 23 cases (33.33%). Full-thickness corneal tear was seen in 52 cases (75.36%). Associated anterior segment involvement included iris prolapse in 34 cases (49.28%), hyphemia in 11 (15.94%), and traumatic cataract in 15 (21.74%), interlamellar corneal foreign body in two cases, and associated full-thickness lid tear involving lid margin in two cases. The posterior segment involvement in the form of vitreous hemorrhage in 19 (27.53%) cases, retinal detachment involving macula in seven cases (10.14%), choroidal detachment in six cases (8.69%), endophthalmitis in five cases (7.25%), and retained intraocular foreign body in three (4.35%). Conclusions: Prevention is always considered superior to the best treatment. Parents should be educated about the devastating complications of ocular trauma, need for supervision, and need for timely referral to the eye care center.