Clinico-Epidemiological Characterization of Paediatric Ocular Trauma: A Systematic Review
Author(s): Fahad Mohammed Albaqami*, Muhanad Althbaiti, Abdulrahman Albugami, Abdulsalam Alshehri, Ahmed Salah Saleh Alosaimi, Majed Mohammed Albaqami and Abdulhamid Alghamdi
Abstract
Background: Children's non-congenital monocular blindness is most commonly caused by ocular trauma. Seven percent of all injuries to them are the result of these accidents, and 10-15 percent of eye disorders are caused by these accidents. Evidence suggests that children account for 12.5 percent to 33.7 percent of all eye injury admissions. Aim: To give a systematic review of ocular trauma, focusing on the etiology and patient demographics as well as the type of injury. Methodology: Articles were chosen using a systematic search in the Medline (PubMed), Google Scholar, Science Direct, EMBASE, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Library) databases (2012 to 2022). The American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and European Society of Ophthalmology annual meeting abstracts from 2012 onwards were also searched, in addition to online trial registers by index. Similar title and abstract search criteria were used for the EMBASE database. The data was gathered using an extraction form that was standardized. Hard-to-define papers were assessed by a second researcher. The selection of manuscripts followed the most recent 2020 PRISMA recommendations. Results: The systematic review included a total of 15 observational studies, 8 of which were prospective and 7 of which were retrospective. The patients' mean extracted age was determined to be 8.57 years. In every study, males suffered more ocular damage (extracted proportion being 73.24 percent). Studies revealed that the majority (60%) of injuries occurred outside the home, including on streets, in schools, on roads, in fields, and on playgrounds. Conclusion: It was concluded that men suffered more ocular trauma than women in the majority of studies, and that home was the most common site of trauma, followed by outside the home. Regarding the kind of trauma, the papers chosen for review most frequently reported blunt and projectile object trauma. The majority of paediatric trauma patients in the research chosen presented to the hospital within 12 hours, while in some studies they reported even beyond 24 hours.