A Report on Penetrating Eye Injuries in the Solomon Islands between 2005 and 2008.

Claude Posala^{1, 2}

¹National Referral Hospital, Honiara, Solomon Islands
²MMed(Ophthal) Student, Pacific Eye Institute, Suva, Fiji

Purpose: An overview of penetrating eye injuries that required admission in the national referral hospital in the Solomon Islands.

Methods: A retrospective case series review of eye injuries requiring hospital admission from 2005 to 2008. In-patient original hospital records were reviewed and cases with incomplete data excluded.

Results: There were 170 people with eye injury who required admission and surgical intervention; of these 41.7% (71/170) had penetrating injuries of which 46.4% (33/71) ultimately had evisceration. Eviscerations were mainly in the presence of extensive and irreparable globe trauma (>90%) and subsequent sepsis. Eye injuries requiring eviscerations were more common in 0-20 year-olds (66.6 %) Knives were the cause of 87.5% (7/8) of penetrating eye injuries in 0-5 year olds.
Knife injury is the leading cause of injuries leading to evisceration 42.4%(14/33)

Conclusion: Children and young adults in Solomon Islands are at greater risk of severe penetrating eye injuries resulting in blindness. A national education program on injury prevention targeting at-risk groups and behaviors is needed.