title: Characteristics and visual outcomes of eye trauma in the Chinese Armed services.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To outline the characteristics and outcomes of eye injuries in the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of military inpatient eye injuries, in one military region, population 250,000 soldiers, between January 2006 and December 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 709 eye injury patients (759 eyes) during the 5-year period with an incidence of inpatient eye injuries of 57 per 100,000 person-years. The mean age of patients was 24 years, the vast majority male. The majority of eye injuries occurred during recreational time (62%), with the commonest causing being violence (46%). The immediate post-injury vision acuity of 48% of eyes was > 6/12; 93% of cases had mechanical ocular injuries and 7% had non-mechanical ocular injuries. 71% of patients were sent to an evacuation hospital within 24 hours and 75% had surgery within 24 hours of injury. The majority of cases (97%) were hospitalized for one visit. On discharge, there was a statistically significant improvement in visual outcomes with 85% of eyes achieving > 6/12.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eye injuries secondary to violence were a frequent occurrence amongst young male PLA members, particularly during recreational time. Most injuries were not sight-threatening, with the majority of patients achieving an excellent visual outcome.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Xiao
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Zhang
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Jiang
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Qiu
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Chaloulias
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Suleman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014792:Visual Acuity; D055815:Young Adult