Profile of ocular injuries among Road traffic accident victims at a tertiary care hospital in Goa: A cross sectional study
Abstract
A large percentage of ocular trauma is secondary to road traffic accidents. Most accidents and the associated eye injuries can be prevented with adherence to safety regulations. The present study was conducted to study the clinical profile of ocular injuries among road traffic accident victims presenting to a tertiary hospital in Goa. A hospital-based descriptive study was conducted among 312 consecutive patients of ocular trauma secondary to road traffic accidents who presented to the tertiary hospital. Detailed history and examination was done and findings were entered in a structured proforma. Observations were expressed as simple percentages and proportions. Among study population, 89.74% patients were males, 63.78% were below the age of 40. Among participants, 58.33% were driving two-wheelers at the time of accidents. And 83.97% presented to the hospital within 6 hours of the accident. Out of 312 participants, 75% were under the influence of alcohol and 41.98% were not following safety regulations at the time of accident. Among ocular injuries, 95.83% patients presented with closed-globe injuries while 4.16% with open-globe injuries. Most commonly involved ocular structure were the lids followed by conjunctiva, lens, iris, anterior chamber and cornea. After successful treatment 82.69% achieved vision better than 6/12 at the end of 6 weeks. It is concluded that road traffic accident related ocular injuries are common in males in the productive age group. By adhering to the safety regulations these injuries could be reduced to a considerable amount.
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Introduction
Ocular trauma as a cause of ocular morbidity is an important public health problem in developing countries like India. As per global estimates there are around 55 million cases of ocular trauma in the world every year1 . Ocular trauma is also the most common cause of unilateral blindness globally.2 A very large proportion of ocular injuries are as a result of road traffic accidents. Road traffic accidents have been on a rise in our country since past few decades as a result of population explosion, increase in the number of vehicles on the road as well as rash negligent rash driving. Most cases of road traffic accidents and their associated ocular injuries can be arrested if safety regulations are followed.
The present study was conducted to study the pattern of eye injuries associated with road traffic accidents presenting at a tertiary care hospital considering the importance of the topic and lack of scientific data in Goa.
Conclusion
Majority of patients who presented with road traffic accident related eye injuries were males in the active and productive age group between 21-40 years. Rash driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, not wearing seat belts and helmets were some of the common factors with ocular injuries among road traffic accident victims. Strict and consistent implementation of road safety regulations can help prevent accidents and associated injuries considerably and go a long way in reducing the disability adjusted life years (DALY) of individuals in the young and productive age group.