Chemical injuries to the eye in Benin City, Nigeria

Chemical injury to the eye is still an important cause of blindness and serious complications in Benin City, Nigeria. Twelve patients were seen with chemical injury to the eye over a five year period. They were all male patients. Ten were assault cases and two were accidental cases. The most common...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWest African journal of medicine Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 71
Main Author Ukponmwan, C U
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nigeria 01.01.2000
Subjects
Accidents - statistics & numerical data
Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Blindness - chemically induced
Burns, Chemical - etiology
Burns, Chemical - prevention & control
Cataract - chemically induced
Crime - statistics & numerical data
Ectropion - chemically induced
Entropion - chemically induced
Eye Burns - etiology
Eye Burns - prevention & control
Health Education
Humans
Male
Nigeria
Sex Distribution
Urban Health
Visual Acuity
Nigeria
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Summary:Chemical injury to the eye is still an important cause of blindness and serious complications in Benin City, Nigeria. Twelve patients were seen with chemical injury to the eye over a five year period. They were all male patients. Ten were assault cases and two were accidental cases. The most common injurious agent was ammonia. Complications seen were corneal opacification in ten patients, symblepharon in nine patients, entropion, ectropion, cataract and staphyloma developed in some of the patients. There were four cases of bilateral blindness and six cases of unilateral blindness. Late presentation to hospital and failure to initiate adequate first aid treatment were contributing factors to the poor outcome. Health education of the public about the importance of prompt, prolonged irrigation of the chemically injured eye and early presentation to the hospital is advised.
ISSN:0189-160X