A 15-year retrospective epidemiologic study of ocular trauma in the north of Portugal

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to better understand the epidemiological risk factors associated with severe eye injury of patients and the secondary objective was to evaluate functional outcomes of these severe eye injuries. Methods: A retrospective, noncomparative cohort study of severe ocular trauma, in patients assessed in an emergency room from January 2004 to December 2018 at Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto was performed and statistically analyzed. Results: This study included a total of 751 patients (758 eyes) suffering ocular trauma. Men had a higher rate of ocular trauma than women (81.4% vs 18.6%). The mean age was 48.9 years old. The most common types of injury were rupture (33.8%) and penetrating (20.9%). Work-related accidents were responsible for 19.3% of injuries. Home was the most common location of trauma (46.3%). In 8.8% of trauma the best corrected visual acuity at presentation was superior to 20/40 while in 6.5% of cases no light perception (NLP) was registered. In 44.8% of trauma the best corrected visual acuity at last follow-up visit (BCVAF) was superior to 20/40 while in 15.7% of cases NLP was registered. Conclusion: The epidemiological high-risk factors identified were: adult males, economic crisis, home, blunt objects in man and falls in woman. Future primary prevention should take into account these factors. This study also demonstrated an important visual impairment associated with severe ocular trauma, even with timely surgical treatment, with BCVAF of NLP in 15.7% of cases.