Abstract
Background: An ocular surface foreign body or superficial foreign body is the most common and preventable form of eye trauma, causing a significant discomfort and if not properly managed may lead further to permanent visual impairment.
Purpose: To study the socio-demographic determinants in patients with ocular surface foreign bodies, common type of foreign bodies, their common locations of impaction in the eye and the suggested preventable measures in the patients prone to exposure.
Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the Ophthalmology department of Pt. JLNGMC Chamba, H.P, India, from January 2018 to August 2018. Age and gender were recorded for all patients. Detailed slit lamp examination was performed. Location of the foreign body was noted. Foreign bodies were removed with the help of forceps or 26 gauge needle depending upon their level of impaction. All the necessary data of the patient were collected and entered into MS Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) to review in the form of percentages and proportions.
Results: A total of 300 patients presenting with ocular surface foreign bodies were included in the study. Males were seen to be at 2.3 times more risk of exposure to foreign bodies than females. A large proportion of patients (n=205) were either illiterates (n=57, 19%) or were qualified upto primary school (n=148,49.33%) only. People residing in rural areas (72%) were about 2.6 times more prone to get exposed to foreign bodies than the semi-urban population. In our study, the most common location of foreign body in the eye was Cornea (47.67%), followed by Subtarsal area (23.67%) and palpebral conjunctiva (13.33%). The most common type of foreign body encountered in our study group was of Wooden matter/Vegetative nature (n=129,43%), followed by dust particles(24.3%) and metallic foreign bodies(19%).
Conclusion: People should be made aware about the use of appropriate eye protective devices at their respective work places.
Keywords: Ocular surface foreign bodies, Ocular injuries, Protective eye wear devices.
References
- National Society to Prevent Blindness: Fact Sheet. New York: National Society to Prevent Blindness, 1980
- Schein OD, Hibberd PL, Shingleton BJ, et al. Spectrum and burden of ocular injury. Ophthalmology 1986; 95: 300-5.
- Li Wern Voon, Jovina See, Tien Yin Wong. The epidemiology of ocular trauma in Singapore: Perspective from the emergency service of a large tertiary hospital. Clinical Study Eye 2001;15:75–81.
- Woo JH, Sundar G. Eye injuries in Singapore-Don’t risk it. Do more. A prospective study.Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2006;35(10):706-18.
- Khatry SK, Lewis AE, Schein OD, et al. The epidemiology of ocular trauma in rural Nepal.Br J Ophthalmol.2004; 88: 456-60.
- Injuries to the eye. Sihota and Tandon, editors. Parson’s disease of the eye.20th Edition. New Delhi: Elsevier; 2007: 362-4.
- Abraham D, Vitale S, West S, et al. Epidemiology of eye injuries in rural Tanzania. Ophthamic Epidemiol. 1999; 6: 85-94.
- Injuries to the eye. Sihota and Tandon, editors. Parsons’ diseases of the eye. 20 edition. New Delhi: Elsevier;2007.p.362-4.
- DeBroff BM, Donahue SP, Caputo BJ, Azar MJ, Kowalski RP, Karenchak LM. Clinical characteristics of corneal foreign bodies and their associated culture results. CLAO J. 1994; 20(2):128-30.
- Tehmina Jahangir, Nadeem Hafeez Butt, Uzma Hamza, Haroon Tayyab, Samina Jahangir. Pattern of Presentation and Factors Leading to Ocular. Trauma Pak J Ophthalmol 2011; 27(2):96-102.
- Muhammad Luqman Ali Bahoo, Ahmad Zeeshan Jamil. Types of Ocular Surface Foreign Bodies and Their Correlation with Location in the Eye Pak J Ophthalmol 2018, Vol. 34, No. 1:24-29.
- Guerra Garcia RA, Garcia D, Martinez FE, Columbie Garbey YE, Martinez RR. The Cuban Ocular Trauma Registry. J Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2013; 4(2):276.
- Subba Reddy, P., Nirmala, K., Radhika, S., Ravi, S., Paul, C. Incidence of Ocular Surface Foreign Body and its Correlation with Specific Occupation and Preventive Measures. Global journal for research analyses, 2016; 5 (12): 56-8.
- Ariturk N, Sahin M, Oge I, Erkan D, Sullu Y. The evaluation of ocular trauma in children between ages 0-12. Turk J Pediatrics.1999 Jan-Mar; 41(1): 43-52.
- Kaimbo WK, Spileers W, Missotten L. Ocular emergencies in kinhasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) Bull Soc Belge Ophthalmol 2002; 284: 49-53.
- Ozlem, YURUKTUMEN, Savaş ARSLAN. Foreign body traumas of the eye managed in an emergency department of a single-institution. Turkish Journal of Trauma & Emergency Surgery 2012;18 (1):75-9.
- Dass RI, Gohel DJ. Ocular surface foreign body: its incidence and correlation with specific occupation. GCSMC J Med Sci. 2013; 2 (2): 42-5.
Corresponding Author
Dr Abhishek Padha
Address: Near National Highway, Diani, Samba -184121, J&K India
Mob: 9796718740, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v6i11.149
