Wartime open globe eye injuries

Open globe injuries are the most serious eye injuries in war as in peace time. The purpose of this study is to analyze wartime open globe eye injuries in 72 patients treated at the Department of Ophthalmology, Clinical Hospital of Split from July 1991 to April 1993, during the intensive war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to evaluate crucial factors responsible for the functional success of the treatment.

Wartime open globe eye injuries were retrospectively analyzed in 72 patients (80 eyes) hospitalized at Clinical Hospital of Split, Department of Ophthalmology, between July 1991 and April 1993. The causes and ways of wounding, localization of wounds and presence, nature and localization of the foreign body, as well as admission time, microsurgical management and other factors contributing to poor visual outcome were studied. Standard international classification of ocular traumas (the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology and the International Ocular Trauma Classification) was used for the classified and graded injuries.

Open globe eye injuries amounted to 52.65% of all war injuries to the eyes. Bilateral injuries were found in eight patients (11.11%). The most frequent cause of the injures were fragments of explosive devices (more than two-thirds). Most of the patients were admitted to the hospital within 24 hours of the injury. Using current microsurgical techniques, the attempt was made to achieve not only anatomical but also functional recovery already in the primary treatment. In 30 eyes (37.50%) final visual acuity amounted to more than 0.1, and in 22 eyes (27.50%) it reached 0.5. There was a statistically significant correlation between admission within the first 12 hours and postoperative improved visual acuity (χ² = 4.53; p = 0.033). Statistically significantly better visual acuity was found in patients with lesions limited to the anterior segment of the eye. Primary enucleation or evisceration was performed only exceptionally: one enucleation and six eviscerations (8.75%).

The most important factors in the prognosis of postoperational visual acuity for wartime open globe eye injuries were: (1) preoperative condition of the eye, (2) localization and extent of the wound, (3) presence, size and nature of foreign bodies, and (4) adequate surgical treatment in specialized institutions.