Clinical pattern of pediatric ocular trauma in a tertiary referral center

ABSTRACT Background Pediatric ocular trauma may be a major source of lifelong visual morbidity and disability. Objective To report on the different types of ocular injury in children in a tertiary referral center. Participants and settings Children presenting with ocular trauma to the casualty department of the pediatric ophthalmology unit of Alexandria Main University Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Methods The study was conducted from June to December 2018. Upon admission, thorough history was obtained from the attending person(s), and thorough ophthalmic examination was performed. Appropriate treatment was subsequently provided to every case (though not the scope of the current study). Results A total of 146 children (from a total of 436 patients, 33.5%) (103 males, 70.5%) presented with various types of ocular injuries. The mean age ± standard deviation of the injured children was 98.1 ± 56.4 months. Study participants were almost equally distributed between within and outside of the city of the study locale, with a predominance of patients from urban areas in Alexandria (30%) and from rural areas outside of Alexandria (35.6%). Seventy percent of the care providers of the study children were manual workers. The places of the incidents were almost equally distributed between household (40%) and external environment with a slight predominance of the later (50%). Conclusions Ocular injuries represent one-third of all ocular injuries in the study locale. Ocular injuries in children occur with an almost equal distribution in both urban and rural areas and in both household and external environments. Mechanical trauma was the most common cause of trauma.