Epidemiology of globe injury repair mechanisms in the TriNetX US collaborative network database: retrospective cohort study

Background: To analyze demographics, incidence, and prevalence of globe injury repair mechanisms in the TriNetX United States population from 2013 to 2023. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of globe injury repair mechanisms in the TriNetX United States Collaborative Network database from 2013 to 2023. CPT codes from the ICD-10 classification system were utilized to identify repair methods for globe injuries (65275, 65280, 65285, 65286). Demographics were analyzed using two-factor ANOVA for age and chi-squared tests for race, ethnicity, and sex. Incidence and prevalence were analyzed yearly and cumulatively. Results: Of the 119,347,853 subjects in TriNetX, 231,286 cases of globe injuries were identified. Demographics varied by repair category for age and sex ratios. An ANOVA showed a significant difference between age distribution over the four subtypes (mean age 47.2 ± 21.6 years, p < 0.001). The most common procedure was repair of non-perforating corneal lacerations with or without foreign body removal (n = 182,193) and was the only cohort with a female-predominant population (n = 119,990; 65.89%). Chi-squared tests revealed significant differences by sex (p < 0.001), ethnicity (p < 0.001), and race (p < 0.001). Incidence showed variation from 2013 to 2019; however, a large decrease in incidence was noted from 2019 to 2021. Conclusions: Our findings align with previous research indicating decreased globe injury incidence during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, except for perforating corneal and/or scleral lacerations without uveal tissue involvement. Our study reveals a shift towards higher affected female population than previous literature.