Ophthalmic manifestations in head injury- A prospective study

Abstract

The eye because of its location in the head and its proximity and neuronal connection with the brain, makes it more vulnerable in head injuries. An increase in the affordability and the attitude of younger generation has lead to the increased incidence of head injuries. Most of the times the ophthalmic manifestations are missed in early stages, where life saving assures the prime importance. This results in grave ocular complications when the patient survives.Various patterns of ophthalmic manifestations following head injury are studied. The grave situations are explored and importance of safety measures may be emphasized. All patients who sustained head injury with ophthalmic manifestations were enrolled in this study. They were subjected to thorough clinical evaluation, tests for visual acuity, color vision, examination with slit lamp, ophthalmoscope, ultrasound b scan, gonioscopy and various imaging techniques, other specialty opinion was also obtained whenever required. Distribution of cases according to the age, sex, mode of injury, laterality of the eyes was studied. Various ophthalmic presentations associated involvement of the orbital walls and cranial nerves were analyzed. Visual acuity at the time of presentation was correlated.The common mode of head injury which had considerable morbidity was found to be Road traffic accident. Precautionary measures should be initiated that may decrease these kinds of morbidities. These patients should be properly evaluated, monitored and managed.