Analysis of 69 cases with ocular trauma among military personnel

Objective To investigate and analyze the categorization and treatment of ocular trauma among military outpatients and inpatients in a hospital of military area command and to provide basis for the prevention and treatment of ocular trauma among military personnel and the allocation of medical resources.Methods A registration form was set up for the survey.Data of injured eyes in outpatients and hospitalizations in a hospital of military area command infrom June 2001 to December 2005 were recorded and statistically analyzed.Results There were 69 military cases with 81 injured eyes,including 63 male and 6 female ones.Forty-three patients were 18-25 years of age while another 26 were over 25 years.The occurrence spots were workplace,family houses and public surroundings.Working,training,sports and road accidents were the main causes of injuries.The injury instruments included vehicle elements,mental debris,wood sticks,fist and foot.Most cases had no protective appliance.The interval time between occurrence and clinic visiting was 29 h,35 cases(50.7%) took less than 24 h,24(34.8%) took 24 up to 48 h and another 10(14.5%) took over 48 h.Thirty-five,32,11 and 3 injured eyes in first visiting had best corrected visual acuity(BCVA) of over 0.5,0.2 up to 0.4,0.02 up to 0.19 and light perception up to 0.01,respectively.Trauma characteristics were contusions and perforations.The affected tissues were eyelid,cornea,conjunctiva,len and retinochoroidal tissue.The major complications included uveitis,cataract,retinal contusion,hyphema,corneal and conjunctiva laceration and residual foreign bodies.Forty-two cases underwent medical treatments and the other 27 accepted surgeries.Thirty-one hospitalizations had therapeutic duration of 4 up to 23 d.The BCVA distribution difference between discharge and fist visiting had statistical significance(χ2=35.455,P0.01).The faster evacuation might improve the BCVA,more obviously(χ2=6.968,P0.05).Conclusion Military training and working were the main causes related to occupational eye injuries which could be avoided by relevant protective appliances.Department of ophthalmology in the central hospital may play a critical role in the rescue treatment of ocular trauma and accelerating of classification and evacuation can decrease the disability rate.