title: The impact of ocular trauma during the Nepal earthquake in 2015.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nepal was struck by a massive earthquake on the 25th April 2015 and major aftershock on the 12th of May 2015, resulting in widespread devastation with a death toll in the thousands. The burden of ocular trauma resulting from the recent earthquakes in Nepal has not been described thus far. The aim of this study was to determine the types of ocular injuries sustained in the earthquake in Nepal and its management in Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) in Gaushala, Kathmandu.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a hospital-based retrospective study of patients presenting to TIO following repeated earthquake. Variables that were recorded included patients' presenting symptoms and time to presentation, visual acuities at presentation and at follow-up, diagnosis of ocular injury and surgery performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 59 cases of earthquake victims visiting TIO, Gaushala, Kathmandu from April 2015 to July 2015, with 64 affected eyes due to 5 cases of bilateral involvement. The majority of patients were from the district Sindhupalchowk (14 cases, 23.7%), which was the epicenter of the main earthquake. The average duration between the earthquake and presentation was 13 · 9 days (range 1-120 days). Closed globe injury was most frequent (23 cases), followed by open globe injuries (8 cases). While 24 patients (38%) initially presented with a visual acuity <3/60 in their affected eye, 15 patients (23%) had a visual acuity of <3/60 on follow-up. A variety of surgical treatments were required including anterior and posterior segment repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immediate management of ocular trauma is critical in order to prevent blindness. Characterizing the burden of earthquake-related ocular trauma will facilitate planning for service provision in the event of a future earthquake in Nepal, or in countries, which are similarly at risk of having natural disasters.
authors.affiliation: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ring Road, Gaushala, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal. elipranjitkar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6670-5316
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ring Road, Gaushala, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Limbu
authors.affiliation: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ring Road, Gaushala, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thakali
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ring Road, Gaushala, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gurung
authors.affiliation: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Ring Road, Gaushala, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055866:Earthquakes; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014792:Visual Acuity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Closed globe injury; Earthquake; Ocular Trauma