Abstract
Objective:
To describe the profile of childhood eye trauma in an ophthalmologic emergency unit.
Methods:
A descriptive cross-sectional study reviewing medical records of patients under 15 years of age at a referral hospital in the ophthalmologic emergency sector from April 2016 to March 2017. Information was collected from the patient and the history of the trauma, the type of trauma and details involved. Ophthalmologic exam was performed, visual acuity, lesions description and type of conduct were verified.
Results:
A total of 78 patients, 80 eyes were included. The right eye was the least affected. Two patients presented bilateral affection. Fifty patients (64%) were admitted through the single health system (SUS). The age group with the highest number of cases was between 1 and 5 years. Regarding the location of the accident, in 42 patients occurred in a home environment. Regarding the ocular lesion involved, most of the patients presented corneal abrasion as the main type of lesion. On the nature of the causal factor of the trauma showed a greater prevalence of traumas with external agents like pencil and pen (14%), ball (13%) and physical aggression (19%). Regarding visual acuity, 39 patients (50%) reported low visual acuity in the affected eye. Sixty-nine patients (89%) had exclusively clinical follow-up. Two patients were referred for ocular evisceration.
Conclusions:
Accidents occurred more frequently in the home environment and closed globe injuries where predominated. Ocular trauma was more frequent among boys. Programs of education and prevention for ocular trauma in childhood are necessary.
Keywords:
Eye injuries; Amblyopia; Child
