Profile of Eye Injuries in Patients Examined at a Tertiary Eye Care Center in Peru

Abstract

Claudia María Sánchez-Huamash,1 Yuliana Milagros Alvarez-Torres,1 Jheferson Salavarría-Castillo,1 Silvia Sanca-Valeriano,1 Andres Campaña-Acuña,1 Marcos Espinola-Sánchez1,2 1Dirección Ejecutiva de Investigación y Docencia Especializada en Oftalmología y Desarrollo de Tecnologías. Instituto Nacional de Oftalmología - INO, “Dr. Francisco Contreras Campos”, Lima, Peru; 2Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Privada Del Norte, Lima, PeruCorrespondence: Claudia María Sánchez-Huamash, Dirección Ejecutiva de Investigación y Docencia Especializada en Oftalmología y Desarrollo de Tecnologías, Instituto Nacional de Oftalmología - INO, “Dr. Francisco Contreras Campos”, Av. Tingo María 398, Lima, 15082, Peru, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: This study aimed to evaluate the profile of eye injuries in patients treated at the Emergency Room of the National Institute of Ophthalmology ‘Dr. Francisco Contreras Campos’ in 2023.Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, and retrospective study was conducted in patients diagnosed in 2023 with eye injuries at the Emergency Room of the National Institute of Ophthalmology “Dr. Francisco Contreras Campos”, in Lima - Peru.Results: A total of 413 patients with eye injuries were evaluated, the majority were men (78.2%) and young adults (74.5%). The majority of injuries (79.9%) were mechanical in origin, with foreign bodies being the most common cause (53.8%) and type of injury (39.5%). 97.3% received pharmacological treatment, 7% surgical treatment, and 83.3% other treatments. Most patients (80.2%) maintained their pre-treatment visual acuity, and 12.5% saw improvements.Conclusion: Mechanical injuries, particularly those involving foreign bodies, are the most common. Topical medication, particularly lubricants and antibiotics, are the primary pharmacological treatments. The majority of patients preserve their visual acuity following the intervention.Plain Language Summary: Despite the clinical importance of eye injuries, most studies have not focused on describing non-mechanical injuries, those affecting the adjacent structures, the mechanism and context of the injury. Our study evaluated the profile of eye injuries in patients treated at a tertiary ophthalmological center and found that the most common eye injuries are those of mechanical origin, whose mechanism and type of injury is due to a foreign body, while in those of non-mechanical origin it is due to a chemical agent, the main treatment is pharmacological and most patients maintain their visual acuity after treatment. The results of this study allow optimizing the treatment and prevention strategies for eye injuries, which could facilitate more precise and effective care in the daily practice of ophthalmologists.Keywords: eye injuries, foreign bodies in the eye, visual acuity

Keywords

• eye injuries
• foreign bodies in the eye
• visual acuity