CORNEAL DAMAGE DURING EYE TRAUMA

Eye trauma occupies an important place in ophthalmological emergencies. Occupational eye injuries constitute 53 to 70% of overall eye injuries.

Early management of these patients minimizes the severity of complications , consequences , and their socio-economic impact.

The aim of this work is to explore the main causes of occupational eye injuries in Casablanca in order to formulate practical recommendations for effective primary prevention according to the professions.

ophthalmology department; August 20th,1953 hospital Ibn Rochd University Hospital Center Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy Casablanca Hassan II University (Morocco) 

 Our work is a retrospective study of 6738 patients with ocular trauma from January 2021 to June 2021 in the emergency department. We analyzed the parameters related to professional eye trauma , and collected data concerning the identification of the patient, the type of accident, the causes and circumstances of the accident , the wearing or not of protective equipment , the employee's state of consciousness at the time of the accident , the nature of the impacting agent, the frequency of accidents professionals according to the type of activity, the prevention method in the company, the staff awareness, and the existence of other employees exposed to the sameworking conditions.

We have identified 5,016 occupational eye trauma, which represents 69% of all eye injuries.

Construction workers had the highest accident rate at 39.5%, followed by workers in the metallurgy (21.4%) and lumber (5.6%) sectors. The most common process leading to an accident was grinding (19.3% of cases) and the traumatic agents are metallic foreign bodies (64.7%). Concerning the site of the injuries, there was a predominance of corneal locations (84.9%) dominated by corneal erosions post-ablation of foreign bodies (41.8%). We recorded a high rate of lack of awareness (65.8%).

Safety at work and quality of work are goals of equal value for a company. Despite numerous efforts over the past century or so, our study shows that 73% of occupational eye accidents are due to negligence: lack of awareness, wearing of poorly adapted protective glasses or even the lack of wearing personal protective equipment. When we combine this with the shortcomings observed in the organization of workstations, it becomes obvious that particular emphasis must be placed on primary prevention.

We offer practical and ambitious recommendations. Of course, zero risk does not exist, but we are convinced that the rigorous application of these recommendations would bring us closer to it for the good of the eyes; our most precious sensory organs.