Clinical Profile, Aetiology, and Management Outcomes of Paediatric Ocular Trauma in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To evaluate cases of paediatric ocular trauma at a tertiary eye hospital in central Saudi Arabia and determine the demographics, causes, ocular injuries and visual status before and after management.<br><br>Methods: A retrospective review was performed of health records of children younger than 16 years with ocular trauma managed from January 1998 to December 2019. Data were collected on patient demographics, eye involved, cause of trauma, the presenting and final vision and the duration of follow up. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at the last follow up was compared between open and closed eye injury groups. The Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) was used to classify the ocular injuries.<br><br>Results: Among 1,003 patients, 728 (72.6%) had open globe and 275 (27.4%) had closed globe injuries. The main causes of trauma were, unsafe playing-related activities (394 patients;39.3%), unsafe home environment (158 patients;15.8%) and injury by metallic objects (166 patients;16.6%). Gunshot-related ocular trauma was noted in 62 (6.2%) children. Presenting vision &lt;20/400 was noted in 292 (40.1%) eyes with open globe injuries and 110 (40%) eyes with closed globe injuries. ( P =0.4). After a median follow up of 13.3 months, BCVA was 20/20 to 20/200 in 393 (53%) eyes with open globe injuries and 137 (49.8%) eyes with closed globe injuries. ( P =0.03).<br><br>Conclusions: Despite being very well-managed, Saudi children seem to be at risk of visual disability due to ocular trauma. The risk factors for ocular trauma require preventative action through public health education that could reduce the incidence of childhood blindness.<br><br>Funding: None to declare<br><br>Conflict of Interest: None to declare. <br><br>Ethical Approval: This study was approved by the Hospital Institutional Review Board (1310-R).