title: Paediatric ocular trauma in kuching, sarawak, malaysia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the demography, aetiology, type and outcome of paediatric ocular trauma in tertiary centre in Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied 118 eyes from 117 patients over a period of 36 months (January 2006 to December 2008). All ocular injuries in patients aged 12 and below seen in the Ophthalmology Department for the first time were included in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of patients was 6.1±3.0 years. 68 cases (58.2%) occurred in pre-school children, whereas 49 (41.9%) in school-aged children. Boys accounted for 65.8% of cases. There was no predilection for either right or the left eye. 47% of cases (56 patients) occurred in Malay. Most of the injuries took place at home when the children were alone (p<0.05). Sharp objects were the commonest cause (45 cases, 38.1%). The majority of cases (103, 87.3%) were considered preventable. The frequency of open and closed globe injury was similar. Hyphema was more common in closed globe injury compared to open globe injury (p<0.05). Other associated injuries such as cataract, vitreous hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhage are similar between the two groups. Visual outcome is generally poor with only 34 eyes (28.8%) had no visual impairment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ocular trauma in children is an important cause of visual loss. Most cases occurred at home and were preventable. Prevention through education is the best approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysia. (Tan Aik Kah, Mallika Premsenthil ).
authors.forename: Ak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysia. (Tan Aik Kah, Mallika Premsenthil ).
authors.forename: Ps
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mallika
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Umum Sarawak, Kuching, Malaysia. (Asokumaran Thanaraj, Mohamad Aziz Salowi, Intan ak Gudom).
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asokumaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Umum Sarawak, Kuching, Malaysia. (Asokumaran Thanaraj, Mohamad Aziz Salowi, Intan ak Gudom).
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohamad Aziz
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Umum Sarawak, Kuching, Malaysia. (Asokumaran Thanaraj, Mohamad Aziz Salowi, Intan ak Gudom).
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Intan