A survey of severe eye injuries in children
P. A. DeRespinis, A. R. Caputo, P. M. Fiore and R. S. Wagner
Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, New York, NY.
We reviewed the medical records of 258 children from newborn to 20 years of
age who had ocular injuries severe enough to warrant admission to United
Hospitals Medical Center, Newark, NJ, over a 3 1/2-year period. In this
time there were 1737 pediatric admissions for eye treatment and of these,
258 (14.85%) were directly related to trauma. Only strabismus, with 676
(38.9%) admissions, accounted for more pediatric hospitalizations for eye
injuries. Balls, fists, and sticks were the most common causes of injury,
and the most common diagnosis was hyphema. The majority of injuries
occurred in children between 11 and 15 years of age (31%). Ocular injuries
in children above 10 years of age were most commonly sports-related,
whereas injuries in the home accounted for the majority of trauma in
children younger than 10 years of age.
