AN ANALYSIS ABOUT 148 OCCUPATIONAL EYE IN JURIES TREATED IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Background: The most common eye injuries are non-perforating. Eye inju ries in the workplace are a major cause of socioeconomical damage, mor bidity and disability, despite well publicised standards for industria l eye protection. This study investigates the epidemiological and clin ical aspects of 148 occupational cases. Patients: At the University Ey e Clinic of Tubingen, 709 non-perforating eye injuries were registered as occupational accidents between 1995 and 1996. Of these cases, 148 were analysed retrospectively per random. Results: The 5 most common i njuries of 148 patients (m/f = 138/10; mean age 33.4 +/- 12 years) wer e related to corneal foreign body injuries (35%), chemical burns (15.5 %), subconjunctival foreign bodies (12%), thermal/ultraviolet injuries (11%) and contusions (7.4%). Of these patients, 22.3% were employed a s construction workers and 16.2% as metal workers. At the time of exam ination the visual acuity of the traumatic eye was 0.9 +/- 0.3. The in terval between the beginning of work and accident was 6.2 +/- 6.4 hour s in average (0.5 - 13.5 h). Of all accidents, 8.5% were caused during the first hour of work; in contrast 45.5% of all accidents were cause d after 6 hours of work. Another 12.4 +/- 14.5 hours (5 min.- 72 h; me dian 7 h) passed by until the patients arrived for eye examination at the Eye Clinic of Tubingen. Only 6% of all patients arrived within the first hour, and 29.7% after 12 hours. Of all cases, 30.4% received fi rst-aid treatment in their company by the factory doctor or by the eye doctor before examination at the Eye Clinic. Only 6.8% of all patient s had protective spectacles during work. Incapacity was seen in 30.4%; the average in total was 5.5 +/- 10 days. Conclusion: Despite the lat e examination at the Eye Clinic the functional loss was mostly little except after chemical burns. Nevertheless, most occupational accidents can be avoided with better protective devices in order to reduce the incidence of injuries and socioeconomical damage. Therefore an intense campaign about protective devices at the place of employment should b e required. We conclude that education about safety glasses in the wor kplace by tradespeople and trades assistants during tasks for which go ggles are recommended could considerably reduce the rate of occupation al eye traumata. The data of the University Eye Clinic of Tubingen are useful to identify strategies to prevent eye injuries such as wider a nd better use of safety glasses and improvement in engineering control s.