title: Severe ocular trauma in the emergency room.
abstract: To assess the nature, severity, and mechanisms of ocular trauma in the emergency room at an academic teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individual review of patients' records involving ocular trauma in the emergency room. Severe intraocular trauma was defined as any injury that required intraocular surgery, any traumatic optic neuropathy, or total destruction of the eye.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 519 patients in 2010 seen in the emergency room for ocular trauma, 52 patients (10%) had severe ocular trauma. Contusions (17) were the most common injury, followed closely by penetrating lacerations (16) and ruptures (16). In addition, 33 of these 52 patients (63.5%) had a full-thickness open globe injury, with physical assault as the most common etiology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most common severe ocular traumas seen in the emergency room were contusions, penetrating lacerations, and ruptures. Penetrating lacerations and ruptures were the most common causes of open eye wall injuries.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Cassie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Confait
authors.forename: Madiha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Ching-Jygh
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008922:Mississippi / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies