This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (5)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Eye Injuries/ Ocular Trauma  • Articles for Residents  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

João A. Capão Filipe, MD, MSc; Vitor L. Fernandes, MD; Henrique Barros, MD, PhD; Fernando Falcão-Reis, MD, PhD; José Castro-Correia, MD, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121:687-694.

Objective  To outline the severity and long-term sequelae of eye injuries in soccer.

Design  Prospective observational study of 163 patients who sustained soccer-related ocular injuries between April 1, 1992, and March 31, 2000 (8 years).

Methods  Patients were observed at a sports ophthalmology unit located in the largest university hospital of the northern region of the country and central to all major soccer fields in town. The data were recorded using the United States Eye Injury Registry report forms for initial and follow-up observation.

Main Outcome Measures  (1) Self-reported history surrounding the ocular trauma, initial visual acuity, diagnosis, and operations and (2) final visual acuity, late diagnosis, and additional operations.

Results  Injuries occurred predominantly in young men (mean ± SD age, 23.2 ± 8.8 years) practicing indoor soccer (50.9%) or outdoor soccer (47.2%), and most resulted from a kicked ball (79.1%) near the goalpost (60.1%). Angle recession and peripheral vitreoretinal lesions were more likely to occur in the superotemporal quadrant (54.7%; 95% confidence interval, 44.2%-65.0%; and 57.6%; 95% confidence interval, 48.4%-66.4%; respectively). Vitreoretinal lesions were present in 42.2% (95% confidence interval, 33.1%-51.8%) of patients with "normal" visual acuity (20/40) and in 50.0% (95% confidence interval, 38.1%-61.8%) of patients without hyphema. No significant association was found between severity of injury and age, sex, type of soccer, level of athletic expertise, or player position.

Conclusions  Severe ocular lesions can occur in soccer players without symptoms and at all skill levels. The development of laboratory models will be essential to explain the tendency for lesions to be in the superotemporal quadrant. The data support the need for protective eyewear designed specifically for soccer.

From the Sports Ophthalmology Unit, Departments of Ophthalmology (Drs Capão Filipe, Fernandes, Falcão-Reis, and Castro-Correia) and Epidemiology (Dr Barros), University of Porto School of Medicine, S João Hospital, Porto, Portugal. The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Craniomaxillofacial injury in sport: a review of prevention research
Echlin et al.
Br. J. Sports. Med. 2005;39:254-263.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Head injuries in youth soccer players presenting to the emergency department * Commentary
Pickett et al.
Br. J. Sports. Med. 2005;39:226-231.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Soccer (football) ocular injuries: An important eye health problem
Capao Filipe
Br J Ophthalmol 2004;88:159-160.
FULL TEXT  

The mechanism and prevention of soccer eye injuries
Vinger and Capao Filipe
Br J Ophthalmol 2004;88:167-168.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Modern sports eye injuries
Capao Filipe et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 2003;87:1336-1339.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT