A Forensic Medical Evaluation of Cases Developing Permanent Sequelae Following Traffic Accident-Related Ocular Injuries

Background/Objectives: To identify factors associated with post-healing visual impairment and describe clinical characteristics in patients with traffic-related ocular trauma undergoing forensic evaluation. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 75 eligible cases with traffic accident-related ocular injury assessed at a university hospital Forensic Medicine Department between 2019 and 2024, after completion of treatment. Collected variables included demographics, accident and trauma type, ophthalmic and neurologic findings, best-corrected visual acuity (converted to LogMAR), and disability ratings. Results: Of 75 cases, 58.7% were male; in-vehicle accidents were most frequent (45.3%). Visual status at evaluation was: no impairment 50.7%, mild 13.3%, moderate 9.3%, and severe or total loss 26.7%. Exploratory omnibus analyses showed associations of visual-impairment severity with optic atrophy (p < 0.001) and intracranial bleeding (p = 0.007). Disability percentages increased stepwise with worsening visual impairment. Conclusions: In this post-healing forensic cohort, severe visual impairment was associated with optic atrophy and intracranial bleeding, and disability percentages rose with impairment severity. Standardized visual metrics and targeted neurologic assessment may be useful components of post-healing disability evaluation; however, their effects on the consistency and reliability of disability determinations were not directly assessed in this study.