[Expected effect of treatment on the rate of visual deficiency after ocular trauma]

Ocular trauma (OT) is a common cause of monocular blindness and visual impairment worldwide. The Ocular Trauma Score (OTS) is a scale that estimates visual function that an injured eye can achieve 6 months after OT. In a sample population, the OTS may be useful to compare the expected functional result with the result of therapeutic interventions in OT. We undertook this study to identify the expected effect of treatment on the rate of visual deficiency 6 months after OT.

The rate of eyes with trauma-related visual deficiency (best corrected visual acuity <20/40) at the time of diagnosis was compared with that estimated 6 months later using the OTS (95% confidence intervals, CI).

We evaluated 742 patients; 46% had visual deficiency initially (95% CI 43-50.2) and 32.1% would demonstrate it 6 months later (95% CI 28.7-35.4, p <0.001, OR 0.54). The rate changed from 29.1 to 18% in closed-globe (CG) trauma and from 84.3 to 63% in open-globe (OG) trauma.

Treating OT would reduce the proportion of visual deficiency by 14.5 percentage points (11 in CG, 21.3 in OG trauma). Up to 66% of the injured eyes could reach normal vision. OT prevention requires enhancement because a high rate of eyes would remain disabled despite receiving the best available treatment.