The urgency department at an Ophthalmological Hospital in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Purpose:

To ascertain the main ophthalmological acute diseases and the prevalence of conjunctivitis in two seasons of the year.

Methods:

Retrospective study by reviewing medical records review of medical records for the one-week period of the first month of summer and winter of the emergency department of the Hospital de Olhos do Paraná, in summer and winter seasons. The ages, major complaints and diagnoses were organized into groups.

Results:

Of 2086 patients, conjunctivitis had 46.4% of diagnoses. Infective conjunctivitis (viral and bacterial) accounted for 57.1%, 46.7%, 57.6%, 59.3% and 54.7% of total conjunctivitis in the age groups of 0-9 years, 10-19 years, 20-39 years, 40-59 years and ≥60 years, respectively. In summer, the most prevalent type of conjunctivitis was allergic (34.7%), followed by viral (29.6%), bacterial (27.2%) and unspecified (8.5%). In the winter, the prevalence sequence was viral (35%), allergic (34.7%), bacterial (21.7%) and unspecified (8.6%). Furthermore, conjunctivitis was responsible for 78.5% of the diagnoses in the first decade of life versus 26.4% from the seventh decade. The other most prevalent diagnoses were hordeolum / chalazion (9.59%), keratitis or bacterial ulcer (6.52%) and hyposphagma (5.51%).

Conclusion:

The group of conjunctivitis had the higher prevalence among the diagnosis. The winter season had a higher prevalence of general conjunctivitis. Both seasons have more viral than bacterial cases, but viral cases were more expressive in the winter. Allergic conjunctivitis had the same prevalence in the analyzed seasons. The age group most affected by general conjunctivitis was 0 to 9 years of age.

Keywords:
Opthalmic emergencies; Emergency Department; Eye diseases; Sazonality; Conjunctivitis/epidemiology