Ophthalmologic emergencies: changes in 12 years in a local hospital

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the number, characteristics and management of patients who attended the Emergency Department of a local hospital with ophthalmological emergencies between 2011 and 2023.

Method: All of these patients at the Hospital de O Salnés for ophthalmological pathology over the 2011 and in 2023 were selected. Date, sex, age, diagnosis and destination of the patients were collectred. Statistics were performed with the Chi-square test.

Results: The total number of patients treated in the emergency department of the Hospital de O Salnés for ophthalmological pathology in 2023 was 1244, more than double the number treated in 2011 (515 patients). Comparing the 2011 sample with the 2023 sample, statistically significant changes (p<0.05) were found in the sex an increase of the female gender (37% vs. 46%) and in the destination of referral of patients from the emergency department, increasing the percentage of direct resolution without assessment by the specialist (6% in 2011 vs. 51% in 2023). The population group that generated the highest attendance was the second quartile in 2011 ((34-48 years) compared to the third quartile in 2023 (53-68 years). No significant changes were found in the diagnosis, with the most common diagnosis being conjunctivitis, and 35% of diagnoses of pathology that could be considered banal.

Conclusion: A large number of patients with trivial ocular pathology attend ophthalmological emergencies. In our area, the epidemiology of these patients is consistent with that of other studies. The COVID-19 hardly affected the characteristics of these patients.