Ophthalmic complications in the intensive careunit
sex-related differences in a descriptive study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70313/2718.7446.v18.n1.404Keywords:
ophthalmology, intensive care, sex, ocular surface, endotracheal intubationAbstract
Objective: To report the most frequent ophthalmologic complications in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of intubated patients and to describe differences between women and men.
Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study of a series of cases, including intubated patients, from the ICU of a public hospital in La Rioja (Argentina) from May 22, 2023 to May 27, 2025. Age, sex and ophthalmologic complications of the studied population were descriptively reviewed.
Results: Out of 328 patients admitted to the ICU who were intubated, 180 were women (54.9 %) and 148 men (45.1 %). Of the total, 109 people (33.2 %) had some kind of ophthalmologic complication, most of them being men (63 men/46 women). Considering sex differences, we found ophthalmologic complications in 46 (25.5 %) of 180 women and in 63 (42.5 %) of 148 men. About the kind of complications, the most frequent were chemosis, followed by conjunctivitis and corneal ulcers.
Conclusion: One third of the population admitted to the ICU and who were intubated had an ophthalmic alteration of the ocular surface, occurring in a higher proportion in men. Future studies will be necessary to determine whether or not sex is a risk factor for these alterations.
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