OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS IN ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT PATIENTS ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN KASHMIR

Abstract

Background: Ocular trauma due to road trafc accidents (RTA) can range from trivial subconjunctival haemorrhage to vision threatening injury. Aim: To determine ocular manifestations due to RTAin patients attending a tertiary care centre in Kashmir Methods: The study was conducted on 80 patients of ocular trauma due to RTA attending the Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Srinagar over a period of 2 years from September 2019 to September 2021. Patients with ocular injuries due to causes other than RTAwere excluded from the study. Adetailed history was taken from all the patients and a detailed ocular examination was done including anterior segment and posterior segment examination. Results: Our study found that most of the patients were in the age group of 20-40 years with higher proportion of male patients being affected as compared to female patients, the ratio being 60:20. Vehicular accidents involving 2 wheelers accounted for 75% cases. Right eye was involved in 65% cases and left eye was involved in 25% cases. Bilateral involvement was seen in 10% cases. Most common ocular injury following RTAin our study was subconjunctival haemorrhage in 85% cases. Majority of patients (60%) had visual acuity of 6/9-6/36 at the time of presentation, 5% patients had visual acuity of counting ngers, 1.25% patients had visual acuity of PL+ whereas 33.75% cases had visual acuity of 6/6 at the time of presentation. Conclusion: Our study concluded that ocular trauma due to RTA is more common in males with two wheelers being the most common cause of vehicular accidents. Ocular trauma following RTA can lead to vision threatening complications. So, it is important to establish effective safety measures and encourage regular adherence to road safety behaviour.