CORNEAL INJURY

Course overview

APPROXIMATELY 3 PERCENT OF ALL VISITS TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ARE DUE TO EYE TRAUMA, WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE PRESENTATIONS INVOLVING CORNEAL INJURY. THE MORBIDITY FROM CORNEAL INJURIES CAN VARY GREATLY, FROM MINOR AND INSIGNIFICANT TO POTENTIALLY VISION-THREATENING. INJURIES TO THE CORNEA CAN BROADLY BE CATEGORIZED INTO TRAUMATIC AND EXPOSURE-RELATED. TRAUMATIC INJURIES MOST COMMONLY INCLUDE CORNEAL ABRASIONS AND FOREIGN BODIES. EXPOSURE-RELATED INJURIES TO THE CORNEA INCLUDE BURNS FROM CHEMICAL, THERMAL, AND RADIATION SOURCES. OCULAR CHEMICAL BURNS ARE AN EMERGENCY, ACCOUNTING FOR 11.5%–22.1% OF ALL OCULAR INJURIES. THIS ACTIVITY EXAMINES WHEN A CORNEAL INJURY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AND HOW TO PROPERLY EVALUATE IT, AND ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTER-PROFESSIONAL TEAM IN CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH ALL FORMS OF CORNEAL INJURY.