• 1. Department of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, International Joint Laboratory of Ocular Diseases (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Ocular Trauma, Tianjin Institute of Eye Health and Eye Diseases, China-UK "Belt and Road" Ophthalmology Joint Laboratory, Laboratory of Molecular Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 30052, China;
  • 2. Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China;
Liao Mengyu, Email: lmy@tmu.edu.cn
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Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and injury patterns of eye trauma in children and adolescents in China. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study. Based on the Chinese Eye Trauma Registry database, 189 patients (189 eyes) aged 0-18 years (13.4%, 189/1 412) of 1 412 patients (1 435 eyes) with eye trauma who were hospitalized from January to December 2023 were included in the study. Patients were recruited from 23 tertiary general hospitals or ophthalmology specialty hospitals located in 17 provincial-level administrative regions across six major geographical areas in China (North China, East China, South China, Central China, Northwest China, and Southwest China). The analysis focused on population characteristics, epidemiological features, injury patterns, and visual outcomes of children from different geographical regions and age groups. Among the 189 eyes, 95 eyes underwent secondary surgery. A total of 23 eyes were excluded due to non-cooperation during examination, no light perception, or only light perception. Ultimately, 72 eyes were included in the statistical analysis. Of these, 36 eyes had follow-up data and were used to observe postoperative visual outcomes. Results Among 189 patients, 143 were males (75.7%, 143/189) and 46 were females (24.3%, 46/189). Age 8.73 (1-18) years old. The gender composition of all age groups was mainly male. The geographical distribution showed that East China had the largest number of cases, 55 (29.1%, 55/189). There were 70 cases (37.0%, 70/189) in 7-10 years old. The type analysis of eye trauma showed that in 189 eyes, mechanical ocular trauma accounted for 130 eyes, of which 105 (80.8%, 105/130) eyes had open globe injuries and 25 (19.2%, 25/130) eyes had closed globe injuries. 122 eyes received emergency surgery within 24 h after injury (accounts for 83.6% of emergency surgical cases, 122/146). In 36 eyes with complete follow-up data, the initial visual acuity distribution was: blind 23 eyes (63.9%), low visual acuity 6 eyes (16.7%), visual acuity ≥0.3 in 7 eyes (19.4%). At the last follow-up, visual acuity improved in 12 eyes (33.3%), 8 eyes (22.2%) with low visual acuity, and 16 eyes (44.4%) with visual acuity ≥0.3. The final visual outcome showed that the disability rate was 22.2% (8/36) and the blindness rate was 33.3% (12/36). Conclusions Children and adolescents account for 13.4% of the hospitalized patients with eye trauma in the same period, and there is a significant gender difference (male accounted for 75.7%). There are obvious age-specific distribution rules in the causes, locations and clinical features of eye trauma in children and adolescents of different ages.

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