Ocular Injuries

[bettervision]

An ocular injury is a broad term used to describe a physical or chemical wound to the eye or eye socket. Another definition is damage or trauma inflicted to the eye by external means. This concept includes both surface injuries and intraocular injuries. All ocular structures are vulnerable to injury, but the site often depends on the cause and mechanism of the ocular injury.

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Ocular injuries are more incident and dangerous than we think. Reports from the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness reveal that ocular injury is responsible for 5% of all blindness in children of both school and preschool age. It is the leading cause of monocular blindness. Many athletic activities, including racquet sports, boxing and hockey, carry the risk of visual casualties. Industrial eye injuries are virtually a daily occurrence in every optometrist’s office and in every emergency center of a hospital. And so for this reason, eye care practitioners should have knowledge about the prevention of ocular injuries and the first-aid therapy of such injuries both in industry and at home.

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Classification
Ocular injuries are divided into open globe and closed globe injuries. There may, however, be an overlap in the classification based on the causative agent or inflicting object involved.
Open Globe Injury: This is an injury that penetrates into the globe. It involves a full thickness wound of the corneoscleral wall which may result from penetrating or blunt eye trauma. They include lacerations; which are further divided into penetrating injuries, perforating injuries and intraocular foreign bodies.
Closed Globe Injury: This type of injury is commonly due to blunt trauma whereby the corneoscleral wall of the globe remains intact. Intraocular damage might be present. They are divided into burns, blunt trauma/ contusions and lamellar lacerations.
Rupture: Ruptures are caused by blunt objects with the actual wound being produced by an inside-out mechanism. If the inflicting object is blunt, it can result in either a contusion or rupture.

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TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT
Ocular lacerations are treated in different ways depending on whether or not there is tissue prolapse. The surgeon has to explore the extent of the wound and then determine the status of the crystalline lens whether to remove it or not. If the wound is extensive and loss of intra-ocular contents has been great enough and the prognosis for useful function is hopeless, enucleation/ evisceration is indicated as a primary surgical procedure. When the wound is clean without tissue prolapse and free from contamination, it can be repaired by direct interrupted sutures and can often heal spontaneously with the aid of an eye pad, contact lenses or cyanoacrylate adhesives while administering a topical antibiotic and controlling the patient's pain with oral analgesics. Whichever the case may be however, Ocular Injuries are considered Ocular Emergencies and one must seek immediate medical attention.

What is @bettervision about?

@bettervision is is a project initiated by @nattybongo and friends to give back to the society the knowledge and skill acquired through the Optometric Studies in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.It is an outreach system where we visit the less privileged communities to offer free eye screening services and education to the people within the community

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To reduce or prevent vision loss through diseases such as glaucoma, cataract and refractive errors.

To enlighten the majority of the Ghanaian population about the importance of proper visual care.

To conscientize people on the need for regular eye checks

To get more people to have their wards screened within the Critical periods of a Child’s Vision Development; thus from ages 3 to till about 10 years.

To help the blind and people with low vision live a better life within the society through education of the general public to stop stigmatization.

To help in the fight of extreme poverty that puts the health of people at risk

Our greatest gratitude goes to @fundition @adollaraday @surfyogi @girlsfoundation @bleepcoin @ackza @indigoocean @nanzo-scoop @steemstem @demotruk @pennsif @steem-ambassador @kasho and @wafrica for helping to make the aims and objectives of @bettervision a reality.

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