Epidemiological Characteristics of Pediatric Ocular Trauma in China: A Multicenter Retrospective Hospital-Based Study

PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to obtain the incidence characteristics of pediatric ocular trauma in mainland China and provide some feasible suggestions of prevention. METHODS: The patients with pediatric ocular injuries, who were (≤14) hospitalized between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020, were included. Patient demographics (age and sex), injury natural characteristics (causes, site, and types), geographic location, and interval of hospital admission were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 13525 cases were identified, and 1973 (14.6%) occurred in children (male accounts 70.9%) with a mean (SD) age of 6.5 (3.4) years. Cases among minors in 2020 dropped by 8.3% compared to 2019, while the former vulnerability to eye injuries has been shifted from the outdoors to home (51.4%, 1015/1973). The main causes of injury are flying objects (31.9%), traffic injury (23.5%), and blunt injury (21.8%), which lead to the main types of injury such as penetrating injury (48.3%), rupture of the globe (18.1%), and contusion trauma (13.1%). If the VA after injury is above CF, the VA after discharge is more likely to be above CF (OR 18.3, 11.9–28.1; p < 0.001). Similarly, age (OR 2.0, 1.3–3.1; p=0.001) and intraocular pressure after injury (OR 0.9, 0.9–1.0; p=0.009) also affect the intraocular pressure at discharge. CONCLUSIONS: In mainland China, the main injury types are penetrating injury and rupture of the globe with home being the most dangerous place. Prevention strategies should focus on parents' education and protective measures indoors. Visual acuity after injury can be used as a predictor of visual acuity after treatment.