Vitreo‐retinal injuries in the practice of padel, a problem on the rise

Purpose: Paddle tennis is considered a sport with high ocular risk. The most frequent eye injuries are caused by the impact of shovels, balls or earth particles, with injuries to the posterior pole of the eye (retina and vitreous) being the most serious and can lead to loss of vision due to retinal detachment, choroidal tears or eye burst many times due to not using adequate protection. In this paper, we analyse posterior pole injuries and their treatment. Methods: The cases of ocular injuries in the practice of paddle tennis in the last three years seen in the ophthalmology emergency service of our hospital have been collected. Results: 34 patients have been included, 30 men and 4 women, with a mean age of 34 years. The initial visual acuity was 0.74 and the final visual acuity was 0.9. The lesions seen have been retinal edema, vitreous haemorrhages, retinal haemorrhages, retinochoroidal tears, retinal tears, macular hole, vitreous base avulsion and angular recession glaucoma, in many cases associating more than one type of injury. In most cases, topical treatment (25 cases), topical and oral (5 cases), laser (5 cases) and surgery (3 cases) have been performed. In no case, did they use eye protection. Conclusions: Most of the cases presented good initial visual acuity, however, all presented potentially serious lesions in the posterior pole (retina and/or choroid), including two cases of retinal detachment and one angular recession glaucoma that required surgery. For this reason, it is necessary to insist on the use of approved polycarbonate protective glasses for all players and in case of ocular contusion, review by the ophthalmology service to assess the eye fundus regardless of the initial vision.