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21st Annual Meeting of the German Retina Society and 8th Symposium of the International Society of Ocular Trauma (ISOT)

German Retina Society
International Society of Ocular Trauma

19.06. - 22.06.2008, Würzburg

Ocular trauma in patients 65 years of age and over

Meeting Abstract

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  • Wolfgang F. Schrader - Würzburg/Germany

Retinologische Gesellschaft. International Society of Ocular Trauma. 21. Jahrestagung der Retinologischen Gesellschaft gemeinsam mit dem 8. Symposium der International Society of Ocular Trauma. Würzburg, 19.-22.06.2008. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2008. DocISOTRG2008V008

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/rg2008/08rg008.shtml

Published: June 18, 2008

© 2008 Schrader.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.


Outline

Text

Purpose: To analyze injuries occurring in elderly patients.

Material and Methods: The records 1026 patients with open globe injuries who were primarily treated at the Universities of Freiburg and Würzburg between January 1, 1981 and December 31,1989, were retrospectively analyzed.

Results: With increasing age we noted more posterior segment injuries. 9 % of all open globe injuries occurred among seniors (> 65 years old), but 41 % of all ruptures occurred in this age group. Preceding cataract surgery was identified as a risk factor. 39 % of injured persons in this age group had

already had intraocular surgery. In 1981 to 1985 36% of the injured eyes hjad previous surgery, between 1986 and 1989 40%, between 1990 - 1993 54% and between 1994 and 1999 18%. After the introduction of small incision techniques at the beginning of the 1990 s, the frequency of globe ruptures began to decrease again.

Conclusion: Elderly patients are more likely to have poorer outcome than those under 65 years of age. Their injuries are more severe (rupture due to fall) and they more likely had previous surgery. Small incision cataract surgery is protrective against the risk of ruptures, since after the introduction of small incision cataract surergy the absolute number of injuries and the percentage of eyes with previous surgery declined.