Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the causes and visual outcome of ocular injuries among children aged 15 years and below in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. A 3-year retrospective study was carried out in the eye department of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria from January 2009 to December 2011. The information retrieved included age, gender, cause of injury, type of injury, eye involved, interval between injury and presentation at the hospital, presenting visual acuity and visual outcome after treatment. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16) was used to analyze the data obtained; p<0.05 was taken as significant. A total of fifty-four children made up of 35 males (64.8%) and 19 females (35.2%) in a ratio 1.84: 1 were managed for eye injuries. Sharp objects were responsible for 53.7%, followed by blunt objects 31.5%. Twenty-two patients (40.7%) presented with closed-globe injury of which 20 patients (37%) had contusion injury while of the thirty-two patients (59.3%) that presented with open-globe injury, 26 patients (48.1%) had penetrating injury. There was vision in 98.1% of the children prior to occurrence of injury; the left eye was more affected 57.4%. Seventy four percent presented within one week of eye injury, with 37% presenting within a day. There was poor visual outcome in 90.7% after 6 months of treatment. Poor visual outcome could result from ocular trauma in children.

Keywords:

Children, ocular injuries, okeigbemen, severity of injury, type of injury, visual outcome,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.