Pediatric ocular trauma: A prospective cohort study on the globe rupture subgroup of open globe injuries

Purpose: This work attempts to investigate the clinical profile as well as consequences of globe rupture, which constitutes a key subclass of open globe ocular trauma, in pediatric patients as per the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology System.

Methods: All pediatric ocular trauma patients with mechanical eye injury who were enrolled at the ocular trauma care center between 2007 and 2019 were included in this prospective cohort study. All anterior and posterior segment findings on presentation, during surgical procedure and follow up were documented. The international ocular trauma society form was employed to acquire the data through our online MIS, and the details were exported to Excel sheet. The data were statistically analyzed by performing univariate analysis and cross tabulation with the help of SPSS 22 software.

Results: Among the 12687 patients with mechanical ocular trauma, 7546 (59.4%) had endured open globe injuries while 5328 (41.9%) had sustained closed globe injuries. In the former, 818 (10.8%) fell under the globe rupture category and 417 (51%) belonged to the pediatric age group (0–18 years). The mean age of the patients was 8.4±4.5 years; 283 were males (67.9%) and 134 were females (32.1%). The mean size of the wound was 6.18 mm. Comparative studies between the pre- and post-treatment data indicated a significant difference in the visual outcome. Out of all, 18 (4.3%) eyes presented with infection.

Conclusion: Based on our findings, it could be inferred that globe rupture subcategory of open globe injury is a important cause of vision loss in the pediatric age group (45.1% <1/60), with the problem being more widespread among the males (>67.2%) than females. The therapeutic approach encompasses multiple surgeries and is beneficial in improving the vision of the young patients.

Keywords: Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology System; Open Globe Injuries; Globe Rupture Trauma; Pediatric Ocular Trauma