Industrial Ocular Injary in ST. Mary's Industrial Accident Hospital

Rhee, Hae Cheon; Chung, Sang Moon; Rhea, Sang Wook; Lee, Won Chul

Abstract

The authors analysed 215 ocular injured patients sent to ST. Mary's Industrial Accident Hospital for the last 5 years form January 1982 to December 1986. 1. Majority of patients(72.1%) were young adult and almost all were male(96.7%). 2. The occupational accident rate showed the highest among blacksmiths and tool makers(33.5%), followed by woodworkers(13.6%), and electrical set-up workers (9.4%). 3. The occurrence rate of ocular injury was the most frequent by the flying objects(75.8%), followed by struck-by(11.2%), and stabbed (7.8%). The source of the injuries were mostly metallic materials(68.1%), followed by non-metallic ma terials(11.9%), and pressure boilers(5.0%). 4. The incidence rate was about the same in non-penetrating injuries as penetrating injuries. But the visual prognosis was worse in penetrating cases than nonpenetrating cases(P<0.05). 5. The most frequent complication was traumatic cataract(32.0%), followed by corneal of scleral laceration(16.0%) and intraocular foreign body(11.9%). 6. In visual prognosis, the final visual acuity of 0.15 or higher was achieved in only 25.3% among those with initial visual acuity of lower than 0.02 but 66.2% among those with initial visual acuity of 0.02 or higher.