Open globe injuries in Nigerian children: Epidemiological characteristics, etiological factors, and visual outcome

Abstract

Purpose:To evaluate the epidemiological characteristics, the etiological factors, the type and severity of injury, visual outcome, and prognostic factors of open globe injuries in children.Materials and Methods:This was a retrospective non-comparative case study. A chart review was performed of patients aged 16 years or younger presented at the Eye Unit of the Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, Nigeria, between January 2001 and December 2006. Data were collected on patient demographics, geographic locale of injury, type of ocular injury and vision. Statistical significance was indicated by P < 0.05.Results:The study sample comprised 78 children. A statistically significantly greater number of males (n = 51) sustained injury compared to females (n = 27; P < 0.05). The mean age of the study sample was 9.7 ± 2.40 years (range, 1 year 2 months to 15 years 8 months). The age-group that sustained injury most commonly was 6 years to 10 years. Left eyes were more likely to be affected, accounting for 53 (68.0%) cases. There were 54% (n = 42) of patients injured at home and 51.0% (n = 40) were injured while playing. The most common injury was corneoscleral laceration, (67.9% [n = 24] eyes). Only 30.0% (n = 23) patients presented within the first 24 hours of the injury, 38.5% (n = 30) of patients were visually impaired and 25.6% (n = 20) patients were blind on presentation. Visual acuity at last follow up indicated that 39.7% (n = 31) patients were visually impaired and 39.7% (n = 31) were blind.Conclusion:More public health efforts should be geared towards preventing potential causes of ocular injury at home and at playgrounds.

A five-year retrospective study of the epidemiological characteristics and visual outcomes of pediatric ocular trauma

“…Most CGI in our study (81.7%) did not cause any final visual impairment in the affected eye, whereas 32.8% of OGI caused severe visual impairment or blindness (VA ≤ 0.1). Other studies also concluded that OGI carry a poorer prognosis and are more likely to suffer from long-term visual impairment [ 1 , 4 – 7 , 15 , 18 , 20 , 22 , 28 , 29 ].…”

An Important Cause of Blindness in Children: Open Globe Injuries

“…A study from Jamaica mentioned that 36% of the all pediatric ocular traumas were open globe injury [ 17 ]. The studies from Nigeria report that approximately 64.1–100% of open globe injuries present with an initial visual acuity of <6/60 [ 18 , 19 ]. According to final visual acuity, they report that 79.4% of children become visually impaired.…”

Epidemiology of Child’s Ocular Globe Injury: A Retrospective Study at the University Teaching Hospital-Campus of Lom&#233; (Togo)

“…Are females becoming more and more interested in violent games just as young boys? Only 8 over 20 cases (40%) have been received in emergency in 24 hours, this delay of consultation has been late compared to Ojabo et al [10] study that reported 71 (80%) cases over 89 cases in 24 hours. The fact that children suffering from trauma are not transferred in time to be taken care of is due to the fact that the mostly live far away from the hospital.…”