Ophthalmic surgical procedures in children at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

Abstract

A retrospective study of paediatric eye surgeries at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital was carried out to determine the frequency and pattern of eye surgeries in children in order to provide a database for such operations. During the study period, January 1996 to December 2000, a total of 757 ophthalmic surgeries were performed, out of which 113 (14.9%) were children. There were 75 males and 38 females, giving a male to female ratio of approximately 2:1. Eye surgery was most frequent in the age group 0–4 years (46.9%). The commonest indication for surgery was ocular trauma (25.7%). The second commonest indication for surgery was cataract (23.0%), while eyeball removal (9% of cases) due to tumours or infection was the third commonest surgical procedure. Strabismus and pterygium surgery were infrequently performed (0.9%). Late presentation for eye surgery was the pattern in most of the cases. Majority of the cases were carried out under general anaesthesia (80.5%) and the others under local anaesthesia (14.5%). Recommendations are made regarding provision of adequate ophthalmic surgical facilities, health education of the populace on the need for early presentation of patients to hospital and inclusion of rubella (German measles) immunisation in the National Programme on Immunization.



Key Words: Ophthalmic surgery, children, Benin City

(Jnl Med & Biomedical Res.; 1(2) 2002: 7-12)