Patterns of the Eye Emergencies Referring to the Valiasr Hospital in Birjand, Iran, During the “Nowruz” Holiday 2019

Ocular trauma is an important cause of preventable morbidity, and accounts for half a million cases of monocular blindness worldwide.

This study conducted to evaluate the profile of ophthalmic emergencies in a tertiary educational hospital during the “Nowruz” holiday 2019 in Birjand, Iran.

This cross-sectional survey included all patients visiting the eye-related Emergency Department during “Nowruz” holiday 2019 in the Valiasr Hospital of Birjand. The demographic information and clinical findings, such as presented complaints, the diagnosed eye disease, and the need for hospitalization were recorded. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequencies and percentages) were calculated.

In the study, 86 patients with a mean age of 42.9 years were enrolled. The number of male subjects was more than female patients (60 (69.8%) and 26 (30.2%), respectively). The most presenting complaints were foreign body sensation (34.9%), followed by red-eye (30.2%) and ocular pain (11.6%). The most frequent diagnosis was corneal metal foreign body (24.4%), followed by conjunctivitis (16.3%) and ocular trauma (10.5%). All patients with penetrating injuries were younger than 12 years. Five patients (5.8%) needed hospitalization and surgery. Approximately, half of the patients were not considered as true emergency case.

In holidays, work-related injuries were the major causes of referral to eye emergency ward with the worse prognosis for children. Therefore, special educational prevention programs to care children should be provided for their parents.