Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Ocular trauma is an important public health hazard with enormous human, social and
economical consequences. Worldwide, there are about 1.6 million blind and 19 million with unilateral visual loss
people from eye injuries. A study done at a teaching referral hospital in Addis Ababa revealed 15.8% of blindness to
be attributed to trauma alone. But there are no researches done on patterns of ocular trauma in the study area.
Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the pattern of ocular trauma among patients seen in Jimma
University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia.
METHODS: A 2-year retrospective review of records on 304 patients with ocular trauma seen from July 1st, 2006-
June 30th, 2008 was done using a structured format. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 16.0.
Associations between variables were checked by Chi-Square test and significance considered when p < 0.05.
RESULTS: Ocular trauma accounted for 1452(6.9%) of the 21165 ocular patients seen at the outpatient
department in the aforementioned 2 years period. Of the studied 304 cases, 194(63.8%) were below age 30 with
mean age 25.5(SD±15.6). Male to female ratio was 3.2:1. One hundred twenty one (39.8%) patients presented to
hospital in 2-7days of injury. Duration of presentation had significant association with presence of infection and
other complications (p- value<0.05). The causes of injury were violence related, domestic accidents and
occupational in 51(16.8%), 40(13.2%) and 36(11.8%) of cases, respectively. Closed globe injuries accounted for 138
(45.4%), open globe injuries for 69 (22.7%) and adnexal injuries constituted 93 (30.6%). Rupture of the globe was
seen in 14 (4.6%) while 15 (4.9%) cases were diagnosed with endophthalmitis.
CONCLUSIONS: Ocular trauma is found to be of a significant magnitude in the study area. Closed globe injuries
are seen more than open globe injuries. Delay in presentation was associated with infections and other
complications. We recommend preventing the injury/mechanisms to reduce occurrence of injury and promote early
care seeking behavior.
