Pediatric Eye Trauma: Epidemiological, Clinical and Therapeutic Aspects at CADESSO in Donka, Guinea

Introduction: Eye trauma represents all morbid lesions on the eyeball due to external violence. In children, they are an important cause of morbidity and the leading cause of monocular blindness. The aim of this study was to determine the sociodemographic, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of eye trauma in children aged 0 to 16 at the Application Centre for the Diploma of Specialized Higher Studies in Ophthalmology (CADESSO) in Donka, Guinea. Patients and Method: This was a prospective longitudinal study with descriptive purposes from January 1 to December 31, 2019 involving 205 children victims of eye trauma. Variables related to sociodemographic, clinical and therapeutic characteristics were studied. Informed consent from patients and/or their parents was sought and obtained. The confidentiality of the files was guaranteed. The data entry was done on EPI-Info version 7 and the analysis using the Stata software. The tables were made in Excel 2010. Pearson’s Chi2 test was used for the comparison of proportions. Results: Pediatric eye trauma accounted for 9.31% of pediatric visits and 30.92% of all eye trauma cases. There was a male predominance with a sex ratio of 1.59. Age groups from 0 - 4 years; 5 - 8 years and 9 - 12 were the most affected with 26.8%, 28.8% and 27.3% respectively and a decrease in the number of cases in the 13 - 16 age group (17.1%). Gambling and sports accidents accounted for 33.2%, followed by domestic accidents for 16.6% and physical injury for 8.2%. Eye contusion was the most represented at 66.3% followed by wounds of the globe 23.9% and burns at 5.9%. One hundred and twenty-six patients had received a determination of visual acuity (VA) at admission; 99 were assessed at discharge and 27 were lost to follow-up. The VA ≥ 5/10th increased from 43.4% at admission to 79.8% after treatment. We had found 67% of vision ≥ 5/10 in eye bruises against 5% in eyeball wounds. Anti-inflammatories (99.5%)) were almost used. The sequelae were dominated by corneal opacities (71.9%). Conclusion: Child eye trauma is a public health problem in Guinea. The best means of care remains prevention, which must be of interest to the child and his environment.