Research Paper Title

Characteristics of post-traumatic blindness at the Yaoundé Army Training, Application and Referral Hospital.

Background

The purpose of this research was to study the characteristics of blindness after ocular trauma.

Methods

In this retrospective descriptive study, the researchers considered the files of patients who had consulted the service for ocular trauma between January 2008 and December 2014. Included were patients of both sexes and all ages whose monocular or binocular vision with best optical correction was strictly below 1/20. Statistical analysis was performed with EPI Info version 3.5.4 software, and the Chi2 test was used with statistically significant values of P≤0.05.

Results

Over the period from 2008 to 2014, we found 100 cases of blindness (101 eyes) resulting from 591 cases of ocular trauma, for a frequency of 16.92 %. Among them, 75 men with a median age of 35.5±19.8 years. Children younger than 15 years accounted for 11 % of the series. The blindness was monocular in 99 % and binocular in 1 %, distributed as follows: 55 cases (55 %) category V, 27 (27 %) category IV and 18 (18 %) category III according to the CIM-10. In the anterior segment, cataract was responsible for category III and IV blindness, while in the posterior segment, retinal detachment was found in all categories. In all age ranges irrespective of sex, category V blindness was most frequent.

Conclusions

Blindness following ocular trauma is frequent in our context. It can be avoided. Consequently, it is essential to put in place strategies for prevention of ocular trauma via education of the population through public awareness campaigns.

Reference

Koki, G., Helles, G., Bilong, Y., Biangoup, P., Aboubakar, H., Epée, E., Bella, A.L. & Ebana Mvogo, C. (2018) Characteristics of post-traumatic blindness at the Yaoundé Army Training, Application and Referral Hospital. Journal Francais d’ophtamologie. 41(6), pp.540-545. doi: 10.1016/j.jfo.2017.11.026. Epub 2018 Jun 15.