Domestic ocular injuries: a case series.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the nature and types of domestic eye injuries.


METHODS
The authors prospectively analyzed data of 100 consecutive patients with domestic eye injury (104 eyes) referred to the emergency room of Farabi Hospital during October 2003. Standardized international classification of ocular trauma (Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology) was used for eye injury classification.


RESULTS
Domestic ocular trauma represented 4.85% of all ocular emergencies (2061 patients) referred to the emergency room during that period. Male to female ratio was 1.13 and mean age of patients was 26+/-18 years (range, 1-73). Cornea was involved in 50.0% and sclera, lens, and retina each was involved in 4.8%. There was severe visual loss (best-corrected distance visual acuity <20/200 due to trauma) in 4% of the patients. The most frequent domestic ocular injury was globe injury (93.7%) including mechanical (72.1% closed and 4.8% open), chemical (14.4%), and thermal (1.9%) injuries.


CONCLUSIONS
Closed mechanical injuries were the most common type of domestic ocular injury in our series. Considering the high rate of domestic eye trauma among ocular emergency cases, more preventive measures should be taken at home.
Department of Ophthalmology, Farabi Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 16686 43511.
M Reza
MR
Mansouri
A
A
Mirshahi
M
M
Hosseini
D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004630:Emergencies / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity