Ocular trauma presentations to a tertiary emergency department: Demographic characteristics, injury mechanisms, and clinical outcomes.
- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Göztepe Prof. Dr. Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital, İstanbul-Türkiye.
Abstract
Background
This study aimed to evaluate the demographic characteristics, etiological factors, associated injuries, and clinical outcomes of patients presenting to a tertiary emergency department with ocular trauma.Methods
This retrospective observational study included 6,557 patients who presented to the Emergency Department of Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital with ocular trauma between 2022 and 2025. Demographic data, trauma mechanisms, physical examination findings, associated injuries, need for surgical intervention, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Categorical variables were analyzed using the chi-square test, while Student's t-test and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used for continuous variables.Results
Of the patients, 85.4% (n=5,598) were male, and 52.9% were aged between 20 and 39 years. The most common reason for presentation was ocular foreign body injury (88.9%), and the most frequent physical examination finding was corneal abrasion (30.9%). Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 8.6% of cases. In 95.9% of patients, ocular trauma occurred without associated injuries, and 1.5% required surgical intervention. Overall, 97.9% of patients were discharged from the emergency department. Ocular foreign body injury (p<0.001), falls (p<0.001), traffic accidents (p=0.004), penetrating or sharp object injuries (p<0.001), and chemical injuries (p=0.002) were more frequent in males. Female sex (p<0.001), age over 60 years (p<0.001), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score below 13 (p<0.001), and the presence of associated injuries (p<0.001) were associated with increased surgical intervention. Female sex (p<0.001), age under 9 years (p<0.001) and over 60 years (p<0.001), GCS score ≤13, presentation due to falls (p<0.001) or traffic accidents (p<0.001), and the presence of orbital or extraocular bone fractures (p<0.001) were associated with higher hospitalization rates.Conclusion
Ocular trauma predominantly affected young males and was most commonly caused by foreign bodies. Corneal abrasion was the most frequent finding. Most cases involved isolated ocular trauma, did not require CT, and were discharged from the emergency department. Female sex, pediatric and geriatric age groups, low GCS scores, and trauma related to falls or traffic accidents were associated with increased surgical intervention and hospitalization.
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BibTeX
@article{demir2026ocular,
title = {{Ocular trauma presentations to a tertiary emergency department: Demographic characteristics, injury mechanisms, and clinical outcomes.}},
author = {Hasret Demir and Behcet Al},
journal = {Ulusal travma ve acil cerrahi dergisi = Turkish journal of trauma \& emergency surgery : TJTES},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.14744/tjtes.2026.62393},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42841894},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ocular trauma presentations to a tertiary emergency department: Demographic characteristics, injury mechanisms, and clinical outcomes.
AU - Hasret Demir
AU - Behcet Al
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Ulusal travma ve acil cerrahi dergisi = Turkish journal of trauma & emergency surgery : TJTES
DO - 10.14744/tjtes.2026.62393
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42841894
AB - Background This study aimed to evaluate the demographic characteristics, etiological factors, associated injuries, and clinical outcomes of patients presenting to a tertiary emergency department with ocular trauma.Methods This retrospective observational study included 6,557 patients who presented to the Emergency Department of Süleyman Yalçın City Hospital with ocular trauma between 2022 and 2025. Demographic data, trauma mechanisms, physical examination findings, associated injuries, need for surgical intervention, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Categorical variables were analyzed using the chi-square test, while Student's t-test and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used for continuous variables.Results Of the patients, 85.4% (n=5,598) were male, and 52.9% were aged between 20 and 39 years. The most common reason for presentation was ocular foreign body injury (88.9%), and the most frequent physical examination finding was corneal abrasion (30.9%). Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 8.6% of cases. In 95.9% of patients, ocular trauma occurred without associated injuries, and 1.5% required surgical intervention. Overall, 97.9% of patients were discharged from the emergency department. Ocular foreign body injury (p<0.001), falls (p<0.001), traffic accidents (p=0.004), penetrating or sharp object injuries (p<0.001), and chemical injuries (p=0.002) were more frequent in males. Female sex (p<0.001), age over 60 years (p<0.001), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score below 13 (p<0.001), and the presence of associated injuries (p<0.001) were associated with increased surgical intervention. Female sex (p<0.001), age under 9 years (p<0.001) and over 60 years (p<0.001), GCS score ≤13, presentation due to falls (p<0.001) or traffic accidents (p<0.001), and the presence of orbital or extraocular bone fractures (p<0.001) were associated with higher hospitalization rates.Conclusion Ocular trauma predominantly affected young males and was most commonly caused by foreign bodies. Corneal abrasion was the most frequent finding. Most cases involved isolated ocular trauma, did not require CT, and were discharged from the emergency department. Female sex, pediatric and geriatric age groups, low GCS scores, and trauma related to falls or traffic accidents were associated with increased surgical intervention and hospitalization.
SN - 1306-696X
SN - 1307-7945
ER -