Medical and social aspects of ophthalmological emergency care

Purpose: A survey was carried out on one hundred patients of the Emergency Service of the Ophthalmology Department of the Hospital das Clinicas of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), in order to analyze the personal characteristics and the barriers against getting resolving ophthalmologic assistance. Variables, were the following: sex, age, home town, average distance between the place of initial symptoms and first visit to the hospital, time spent between the first examination (if performed in any other service) and the examination performed at the Hospital das Clinicas of University of Campinas, diagnosis, veracity of emergency, need to refer patients previously seen in other services to our Service and possibility of assistance and treatment at a secondary level. Methods: The sample showed the following characteristics: distances between 20 and 100 kilometers covered by 50.0% of the patients to be seen at University of Campinas. 75.0% of those patients needed someone to stay with them and 67.0% came from other municipalities. The long distances covered meant additional expenses for the treatment of diseases which should be treated locally. Results: Among the patients referred to University of Campinas by ophthalmologists of other services, 87.5% could have their diseases treated at a secondary level of assistance and 66.7% of real emergencies and 60% of false emergencies took longer than 7 days to reach the emergency room of University of Campinas. This shows the poor infrastructure of secondary services regarding excellence of emergency care and education of patients. Conclusions: We recommend education of general physicians and ophthalmologists for emergency eye care and also the supply of both secondary and tertiary public services or medicare, strategically setup in the whole state of Sao Paulo.Objetivo: Realizou-se um estudo em cem pacientes no Serviço de Emergência Oftalmológica do Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas a fim de analisar as características pessoais e as dificuldades para obter assistência oftalmológica de forma resolutiva. Métodos: A amostra apresentou as seguintes características: distâncias entre 20 e 100 quilómetros percorridas por 50,0% dos pacientes a serem atendidos no Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, sendo que 75,0% destes necessitaram de acompanhante e 67,0% eram procedentes de outros municípios. As longas distâncias percorridas representaram despesas adicionais no tratamento de doenças que muitas vezes deveriam ser resolvidas localmente. Resultados: Entre os pacientes encaminhados por oftalmologistas de outros serviços ao Hospital das Clínicas- Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 87,5% poderiam ter seu problema resolvido em nível secundário de atendimento e 66,7% das urgências verdadeiras e 60,0% das urgências falsas levaram mais de 7 dias para chegar ao Pronto Socorro- Universidade Estadual de Campinas, sugerindo, nas condições desta pesquisa, uma estruturação precária dos serviços secundários quanto ao preparo para o atendimento de urgência e a orientação do paciente. Conclusão: Recomenda-se a preparação de médicos generalistas e oftalmologistas em participação resolutiva dos casos de emergência ocular além da instalação de serviços públicos ou conveniados, secundários e terciários, estrategicamente distribuídos por todo o Estado de São Paulo