Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the epidemiology of ocular trauma cases presenting to a tertiary hospital in Changsha, China over an 18 months period.
Methods:
This retrospective study included 532 patients presenting with eye trauma to The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University between Dec 17, 2012 and June 29, 2014. Patient charts were evaluated from the hospital’s electronic medical record system for all hospitalized patients.
Results:
Of the 532 patients presenting during this 18 month period, 434 (81.6%) were males and 98 (18.4%) females. Overall, open globe injuries had the highest frequency (66.0%, n=351), compared to closed globe injuries (33.1%, n=176), and thermal/chemical injuries (0.9% n=5). 91 patients also had adnexal injuries (17.1%). Of the open globe injuries, corneal penetration was the most common injury (42.2% n=148) followed by intraocular foreign body (26.5% n=93). The average age of all patients was 37.4 ± 20 years (range: 10 months to 87 years). The frequency of ocular trauma peaked in children 10 years of age and younger (15.8%, n=84) and in adults between 40-50 years old (19.6%, n=104). The majority of ocular trauma in children ≤10 years of age was open globe injuries (81%, n=68), with corneal penetration being the most frequent mechanism (58.8%, n=40). Overall, the most frequent cause of ocular trauma was work-related injuries (35.5% n=189) followed by injuries at home (23.3% n=124). During the months of January and February, fire-cracker associated ocular injuries were significantly higher than all other causes (23.8%, n= 31, p<0.001). Ocular trauma occurred more frequently in rural settings (72.6%, n= 386) than in urban settings (27.4%, n=146, p<0.001).
Conclusions:
The epidemiology of ocular traumas varied by age, gender, urban/rural location and time. We found high rates fire-cracker associated ocular trauma during the months adjacent to the Chinese New Year festival. Better understanding of the epidemiology of ocular traumas may aid in improved health prevention efforts to minimize eye injuries.