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Mechanical eye (globe) injuries in children
Andrew Vasnaik1, Usha Vasu, Ravindra Rama Battu
1Department of Ophthalmology, St. Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India.
Insights
Mechanical eye injuries in children caused by agents or the environment lead to worse visual outcomes than those related to the child. Understanding injury causes can guide prevention strategies to reduce severity.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Ophthalmology
- Public Health
Background:
- Mechanical eye injuries represent a significant cause of visual impairment in children.
- Understanding the epidemiology of these injuries is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the epidemiology of mechanical eye injuries in children.
- To identify the primary agents responsible for these injuries.
- To correlate injury agents with visual outcomes and inform preventive measures.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study of children with mechanical eye injuries from January 1994 to January 1999.
- Correlation of injury mode (host, agent, environment), type, and severity with visual acuity at 6 months post-injury.
Main Results:
- Agent-related injuries (58.82%) were most common, followed by environment-related (23.53%) and host-related (17.65%).
- Severe injuries were exclusively associated with agent or environment factors.
- Host-related injuries had the best visual outcomes (66.67% good), while agent-related injuries had a higher rate of poor outcomes (22.5%).
Conclusions:
- Agent and environment-related mechanical eye injuries in children result in significantly worse visual outcomes compared to host-related injuries.
- Injury severity at presentation and the need for secondary surgery are key predictors of final visual outcome.
- Epidemiological data supports targeted preventive measures in home and school settings to mitigate ocular injury incidence and severity.
Purpose:
The epidemiology of mechanical eye injuries in children was studied to identify the agents of injury and their contribution to the severity of visual loss and to suggest preventive measures.
Methods:
The mode, type, and severity of injury were correlated with the visual acuity 6 months after the injury in all children with mechanical eye injuries between January 1994 to January 1999.
Results:
Of the 68 children with mechanical eye injuries, the mode of injury was host (child) related in 12 (17.65%) patients, agent related in 40 (58.82%) patients, and environment related in 16 (23.53%) patients. Mild injuries were seen in 22 (32.35%) patients, 31 (45.59%) patients had moderate injuries, and 15 (22.06%) patients had severe injuries. None of the patients with host-related injuries had a severe injury. Six (66.67%) patients with host-related injuries had a good visual outcome and none had a poor outcome. Among patients with agent-related injuries, 11 (25%) had a good outcome, 14 (40%) patients had a fair outcome, and 10 (22.5%) patients had a poor outcome. Of the patients with environment-related injuries 3 (33.33%) each had good, fair, and poor visual outcomes.
Conclusions:
Agent and environment-related injuries had a far worse outcome than host-related injuries. This epidemiological classification directly suggests practical preventive measures that can be adopted at home or at school to reduce the incidence and severity of ocular injuries. The other predictors of the final visual outcome were the severity of the injury at presentation and the necessity for a secondary surgical procedure.