OBJECTIVEOcular trauma is a common cause of visual impairment and accounts for 38% to 52% of all patients presenting as ophthalmic accident and emergency cases to the hospital. The purpose of this study is to describe the pattern of ocular injuries that leads to hospitalization in the elderly in Kashan, Iran.

METHODSIn the retrospective consecutive case series, a total of 94 geriatric patients (larger than or equal to 65 years) who admitted and underwent management for ocular trauma from April 2001 to March 2011 at Matini Hospital of Kashan, the only center of eye surgery in the region of Kashan, were reviewed. The items include age, sex, injury mechanism, site and extent of damage, presenting and final best corrected visual acuity at least 3 months after trauma, which were reviewed and analyzed with SPSS software.

RESULTSDuring the 10 years, 94 eyes of 94 patients with ocular trauma were included. Mean age of patients was (77.5+/-5.1) years (range 65 to 102 years). Male to female ratio was 2.76. The mechanism of ocular injury included sharp trauma in 56 patients (59.6%) and blunt in 38 patients (40.4%). Trauma occurred mostly in males (69 patients, 73.4%) and at the work place (38 patients, 40.4%). On admission the visual acuity in 50 patients (53.2%) with damaged eyes was light perception to hand motion. While the final best corrected visual acuity in 36 patients (38.3%) was better than hand motion.

CONCLUSIONOcular trauma is a serious cause of visual impairment in the elderly. Appropriate and timely management may improve their visual prognosis.