Assessment of Permanent Sequelae of Eye Injuries in Relation to the Period ofWork Incapacity and Degree of Invalidity

Overview

The authors evaluated the sequelae of 200 eye injuries based on forensic attestsduring the investigation period from 1983-1997. The group comprised 166 menand 34 women, mean age 37.5 years , incl. 25 children under 18 years.They classifiedthe injuries in-to groups with regard to their origin and mechanism. Attentionwas paid to evaluation of visual acuity at distance, the number of operations ofthe eyes and the authors classified the group with regard to ophthalmologicaldiagnosis and complications. The mean period of hospitalization was 32.8 days,the mean period of work incapacity 117.7 days. In the whole group there were 75monoculi, 6 bilaterally blind subjects, one quarter had 6/6 vision on both eyes.Almost half the injured subjects had a reduced work capacity, there were 66 partialinvalids, 22 full invalids, 13 subjects had an altered work capacity. The discussionis focused on better collaboration of the ophthalmologist and physician assessingthe work capacity in evaluation of permanent sequelae of eye injuries.

Key words:
eye injuries, work incapacity, invalidity