Ocular trauma in Indian pediatric population

Abstract

Background: Trauma to the eye and ensuing visual disability is an important cause of preventable mono-ocular blindness in the pediatric age group in India. Policy decisions are helpful in preventing this kind of trauma and improving the required trauma management services warrant an accurate estimate of various aspects of ocular trauma and its outcome in Indian population. Aims: To understand the patterns of ocular trauma in Indian pediatric population and its short-term visual outcome. Settings and Design: A tertiary center based, retrospective, observational study. Materials and Methods: Data collection from January 2010 to June 2013 including demographic profile, place of injury, distance from tertiary center, type of health care facility first sought, time delay in first treatment, medico-legal status, pattern of ocular injury on Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology System (classification), trauma elsewhere in the body, treatment given by us, and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at the time of presentation and 3 months. Statistical Analysis: Multinomial logistic regression analysis to identify factors independently affecting BCVA posttreatment which included age, time of the first contact, and time delay in treatment, pretreatment BCVA. Results and Conclusions: Mean age of injury was 7.6 ± 3.3 years with 151 (79.1%) males and 40 (20.9%) females. Seventy-eight percent of patients were from rural areas and 43% first sought treatment at some other government health facility. Majority of children 83/191 (43.5%) sustained injuries at agricultural fields. Best visual acuity was observed in cases of closed globe injuries which was better than 6/18 in 81.8% (18/22) cases.