Ocular trauma in a Greek population: review of 899 cases resulting in hospitalization.

Purpose: To determine the annual hospitalization rate and risk factors of eye injuries requiring hospitalization in an area of Greece.

Methods: Retrospective case analysis of 899 consecutive patients with ocular injury admitted at the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital at Patras Medical School, Greece, over a 9-year period.

Results: The average annual rate of hospitalized ocular injuries was 71.0 eye injuries per 1000 admissions at the Department of Ophthalmology. The majority (80.2%) of patients were male. The average age was 35.0 years (range 6 months-98 years). Approximately half of all injuries occurred in persons younger than 29 years of age. Patients with Albanian ethnic background were at higher risk. The most common type of injury was closed-globe injury (49.5%) that affected more frequently the very young individuals (0-19 years) and persons older than 50 years of age. Open-globe injuries occurred most often in young adults, 20 to 39 years of age, and comprised over 35% of all eye injuries in this age group. Most injuries (32.8%) occurred at the workplace, most commonly during construction activities. Injuries at home approximated the work-related injuries (30.0%). A total of 398 (42.5%) eyes underwent surgical intervention on the eye globe, while 49 (12.3%) of them underwent multiple operations as part of their treatment. 18.2% of the eyes were blinded and 27.9% had significant visual acuity loss. An enucleation during the follow-up period was performed in 4 (1.0%) eyes.

Conclusions: Trauma is an important cause of ocular morbidity in Greece. Risk factors include young age, male gender, Albanian ethnic background, and workplace. General safety precautions and behavior modification are indicated.