Causes Of Ocular Trauma

SUMMARYBackground: Ocular trauma is a leading cause of monocular blindness worldwide. Indeveloping countries, eye injuries are not only more common but also more severe in theireffect and this may be attributed to socioeconomic background, inadequate safety measures,lack of optimum treatment facilities, use of traditional eye medication and poor education. Objective: To determine the pattern of eye injuries and their visual outcome in TeachingHospitals in Enugu State.Methods: This prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at the eye clinicsand emergency units of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/ Ozalla and theEnugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Park Lane

This may be due to mechanical trauma (blunt or penetrating), thermal injuries,chemical agents or radiation.1 Ocular trauma is an important cause of visual impairment and a leading cause of preventablemonocular blindness.2 Worldwide there are approximately 1.6 million people blind from eyeinjuries, an additional 2.3 million people with bilateral low vision from this cause, and almost19 million with unilateral blindness or low vision.3The global pattern of eye injuries and theirconsequences suggest that 55 million eye injuries restricting activities more than one day,occur each year and 750,000 cases will require hospitalization each year.3,4Data from the National Centre for Health Statistics' Health Interview Survey, conducted in1977, estimated that nearly 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the United States yearly.5 Thisreport also estimated that nearly one million Americans have permanent significant visualimpairment due to injury, with more than 75% of these individuals being monocularly blind.Eye injury is a leading cause of monocular blindness in the United States, and is second onlyto cataract as the most common cause of visual impairment.2,5In developing countries, eye injuries are not only more common but also more severe in theireffect and this may be attributed to socioeconomic background, inadequate safety measures,lack of

5In Nigeria, the causes of ocular trauma comprise a peculiar mix; ranging from domesticinjuries, rural occupational hazards (farming, hunting), industrialized work-related trauma,road traffic accident-related and assault-related.22–25Visual outcome has been found to be dependent on the type of injury, its severity and initialvisual acuity at the time of presentation at the hospital.17,26,27 Worse visual outcomes aredocumented in developing countries as a result of delay in seeking specialist treatment andinadequate ophthalmic care.24,27 Penetrating ocular injury has also been associated with worsevisual prognosis and more ocular complications.17,28–30Available literature, in Nigeria, has also established a relationship between; domestic relatedtrauma and gender, bilateral involvement and psychological status, and to determinecommonly affected ocular structures.22,31,32 Regarding domestic trauma, women and childrenare at greater risk due to their increased involvement with domestic activities.22 Whilebilateral ocular trauma with blinding consequences is rare, reported cases have beenassociated with blast injuries, explosions and severe depression;