Paediatric Ocular Traumas Presenting to a Secondary District Hospital Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

According to many relevant reports, the current pandemic has changed the pattern of ophthalmic emergencies world-wide.1, 2 That probably affected ocular injuries in children as well.2, 3 To expand on this matter, we present findings from our department regarding ocular traumas in paediatric patients. This short retrospective study was conducted in the ophthalmology unit of […] in Central Greece, in accordance with institutional guidelines and tenets of the Helsinki Declaration for human research, following approval by the Institutional Review Board. Data were collected from charts of paediatric patients who visited the Ophthalmology Emergency Department (OED) in two discrete 9-month periods: First, between 1 March and 31 December 2019 (pre-COVID period) and second, between 1 March and 31 December 2020 (COVID period). Eligibility criteria: all patients <18 years old that were examined in our OED during the study periods. For the purposes of the study, ocular traumas have been classified according to a modified version of the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology system, which, besides blunt, sharp and open globe injuries, also includes chemical and foreign body injuries. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2007 for Windows (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Our analysis showed a total of 202 unique patients of mean age 9.7 ± 5 years (109 males, 93 females) visiting our OED during the pre-COVID period, with 55 of them (27.2%) due to ocular trauma. Accordingly, 61 patients of mean age 11.04 ± 4.98 years (27 males, 34 females) have visited the unit during the pandemic period, with 23 of them (37.7%) due to ocular trauma. The overall reduction was −69.8% for paediatric patients and −59.18% for patients with ocular trauma. Regarding the types of ocular trauma, in the pre-COVID period, 17 cases (31%) were blunt traumas, 22 cases (40%) sharp traumas, 5 (9%) chemical injuries and 11 (20%) foreign body injuries. During the COVID period, 5 cases (22%) were blunts, 12 (52%) sharps, 2 (9%) chemical injuries and 4 (17%) cases foreign body injuries. No open globe traumas were recorded in both periods (Fig. 1). According to the results, the volume of emergency visits has been considerably reduced during the pandemic period. Possible reasons could be the parents' concern about the pandemic or the limited outdoor activities, which consequently could lead to fewer injuries. Despite these hypotheses, our findings come in agreement with other studies' results showing that ocular traumas in children have not been proportionally reduced since they usually happen at home.3, 4