Sonographic evaluation of ocular trauma in Ilorin, Nigeria

PURPOSE.: Ultrasound (US) evaluation of the eye and orbit has become an essential component of clinical ophthalmology. Requests for its use are frequent in the authors' hospital in spite of the absence of a dedicated eye scanner. The extent to which this has influenced the authors' patient management, especially for those with orbito-ocular trauma, informed the decision to carry out this study.

A retrospective review of cases of orbito-ocular trauma with media opacities and/or intraocular hemorrhage sent for ultrasonography over a 5-year period (January 1997-December 2001) at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria, was carried out. The sonographic diagnosis was reviewed with the management outcomes as found in the patients' records.

A total of 71 patients (45 male, 26 female) were included in the study (M:F=1:1.7). The minimum age was 1 1 /2 years and maximum was 70 years. The 11- to 20-year age group was mostly affected by trauma (31%). Retinal detachment (22.5%) was the most common posterior segment lesion diagnosed, followed by vitreous hemorrhage (18.3%) and hyphema (11.3%). Visual acuity improved to between 6/9 and 6/18 in 23 (41.4%) of the 56 injured eyes.

The usefulness of orbito-ocular ultrasonography in ophthalmic trauma management has been demonstrated in this study, especially using nondedicated eye scanners when a dedicated one is unavailable.