Clinical Ophthalmology Consultations in Paediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation-A Retrospective Case-Note Analysis

One of the key factors for enhancing outcomes in neurorehabilitation of patients with congenital or acquired brain injury is optimal sensory function and identification of possible visual dysfunctions. Awareness of visual dysfunctions including cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is therefore of utmost importance in the rehabilitation process. The purpose was to investigate the frequency and nature of vision disorders in children admitted to a rehabilitation centre over a 5-year period.

This is a retrospective analysis of patients at the Swiss Children's Rehab who received an ophthalmological consultation between January 2019 and December 2024. Electronic chart review was performed in patients with consent for the study.

Referral diagnoses leading to admission to the rehabilitation centre, corresponding ophthalmological findings, therapeutic interventions and demographics. The study was approved by the local ethics committee.

A total of 229 consultations from 163 patients were reviewed. The two most common causes for admission were traumatic (41/163) and inflammatory (36/163) conditions. Congenital disease was present in 30 patients. Most of the children had an acquired disorder (133/163). Pathological ophthalmological findings were present in 101/163 (62%) children examined. The most common findings were reduced vision (26/163) followed by CVI (22/163) and refractive errors (20/163). Traumatic causes were most often associated with oculomotor disorders (10/41) or CVI (6/41). CVI was prevalent in 22% of the pathological findings in this study.

Ophthalmological assessment is recommended for all children with suspected visual dysfunction as part of the rehabilitation process.