Eye trauma during the 2011 Egyptian revolution

Cairo university hospitals are at the heart of Cairo with close proximity to Tahrir (Liberation) square and had received the vast majority of casualties during the Egyptian revolution. The aim of this study was to analyze the eye injuries during the uprising.

Retrospective cohort study.

Data were obtained from patients' paper records, interview with treating ophthalmologists, and whenever possible patients were interviewed and examined. An electronic medical template had been specially developed for recording these data. Main outcome measures were the flow of patients and their demographics, diagnoses, visual acuities pre and post interventions, investigations and management. Whenever required results were compared at 95 % confidence interval.

There were 184 patients (mean age 27.3 ± 9.6 years) with 195 injured eyes of whom 96.7 % were males and 11 patients had both eyes injured. Seventy seven percent of patients had been admitted within 24 h of injury. Open globe injuries comprised 87 % of the eyes of which 147 eyes received 259 imaging investigations. The presenting visual acuities were worse than 3/60 in 72.5 % of eyes which were even worse post interventions and that was significantly dependent on the presenting vision. Wound repair was the primary intervention in 85 % of eyes while 50 % of the secondary interventions were vitrectomies.

Presenting visual acuity is a valid prognostic factor in the setting of mass eye casualty. Management of open globe injuries continues to pose difficult challenges especially bilateral ones.