Ocular trauma in an urban Spanish population: epidemiology and visual outcome

To describe epidemiological aspects, clinical findings, and visual results in eye trauma patients requiring urgent surgery at a tertiary hospital.

Retrospective review of adult patients requiring urgent surgery for trauma to the eyeball from January 2010 and April 2020. Data was collected relative to age, gender, mechanism of the injury, type of wound, initial and final visual acuity, number and type of surgeries carried out. Injuries were classed according to the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) and the Ocular Trauma Score (OTS) categories.

The survey included 92 eyes. Mean age was 54.76±22.18y. The most frequent cause was domestic accidents (44.6%), followed by aggression (22.80%) and occupational accidents (17.4%). Trauma from aggression was more frequent in men (P=0.006) and accidents in the home more common in women (P=0.011). Patients over 65y presented an odds ratio (OR) of 10.71 for suffering a domestic accident. Patients between 15-45 and 46-65y were at higher risk of trauma from aggression (OR=17.52 and OR=10.94, respectively). As for the type of injury, 63.04% were open-globe lesions, Zone II being the most frequently affected (27.2%). In Logistic regression analysis, old age (P=0.05) and retinal involvement (P=0.001) were found to be associated with higher rate of unfavourable visual outcome.

The epidemiological aspects of eye trauma are highly dependent on the area of population studied. Domestic accidents are more relevant than workplace accidents in older urban areas with high socio-economic status. A better knowledge of the epidemiological characteristics is useful for implementing specific prevention measures and appropriate treatment strategies.