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Severe ocular injuries in Greek children
Ephigenia K Mela1, Constantinos D Georgakopoulos, Athanasios Georgalis
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Patras Medical School, Patras, Greece. ifigenia@hol.gr
Objective:
To determine the epidemiological characteristics of severe eye injuries in childhood, in a mixed urban and rural Greek setting.
Methods:
Retrospective analysis of 95 cases (103 eyes) of eye injuries in children younger than 17 years of age admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Patras, Greece, during a five-year period. The data were analyzed with respect to age, sex, type, cause and mode of injury, method of management, duration of hospitalization and final visual deficit.
Results:
The average age was 9.8 years and males were involved in 80% of the cases. The most common type of eye injury was mechanical closed-globe injury (71.8%). Mechanical open-globe injuries were found in 21.3% of the eyes, while burns comprised 6.7% of the injuries. Most injuries were agent-related, with blows and falls being responsible most often. Multiple operations were part of the treatment in 11.6% of the eyes; 14.5% of the eyes were blinded and 15.5% had significant final visual acuity loss.
Conclusions:
These hospital-based data suggest that there is a need for health education of both parents and children, since some injuries in children could easily have been prevented.