TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Prevalence of ocular and orbital injuries in polytrauma patients
JO  - European journal of trauma and emergency surgery
A1  - Georgouli, T.
A1  - Pountos, I.
A1  - Chang, B. Y. P.
A1  - Giannoudis, Peter V.
SP  - 135
EP  - 140
VL  - 37
IS  - 2
N2  - INTRODUCTION: Polytrauma patients usually suffer from both life-threatening injuries, where early intervention is mandatory in order to prevent mortality from uncontrollable haemorrhage-especially during the "golden hour", and secondary injuries of lower priority which receive delayed referral or treatment. Non-life-threatening injuries can sometimes be overlooked and so remain untreated until a much later stage. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of eye (ocular and orbital) injuries in polytrauma (injury severity score >15) patients and describe their complexities and outcomes. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a 10-year period (1991-2001), all polytrauma patients admitted in our institution were evaluated. Patients with ocular and orbital injuries were identified and their records were retrospectively analyzed. <br><br>RESULTS: Out of a total of 2,985 polytrauma patients, 222 (7.5%) met the inclusion criteria. Forty-one case notes were not retraceable. The files of 181 patients were therefore available for review. The mean age of this group of patients was 33 years (3-84) with a sex ratio (male: female ratio) 5:1. The types of eye injuries encountered were orbital wall fractures (61%), periorbital swelling or hematoma (46%), sub-conjunctival hemorrhage (23%), periorbital lacerations (22%), optic nerve trauma (11%) and penetrating eye injuries (6%). Visual impairment resulted in about 67% of survivors, including loss of eye in 24%. Diplopia requiring intervention was seen in 24% of the cases. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Polytrauma patients are at high risk for vision-threatening injuries, and an early multidisciplinary approach is essential for early detection and treatment.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1863-9933
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00068-010-0029-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -