Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Globe Lacerations

To analyse the clinical characteristics of globe lacerations known as the main cause of visual loss due to ocular trauma and determine the risk factors. Material and method: This retrospective study included perforating eye injuries followed at the Ophthalmology Department of Selcuk University. The following parameters of cases are recorded from registrations of our clinic: age, sex, affected eye, activity at the time of injury, causative agent, localization of injury, the length of time from injury to the initial examination in our clinic, initial visual acuity, surgical procedure, best corrected visual acuity measured at the last visit. Result: Of the 215 cases with perforating eye injuries 168 (78.1%) were male and 47 (21.9%) were female. The most common activity at the time of injury was home and work activities in 51.6% of cases caused by cutting and perforating matters in the majority. Analysis of injury localization revealed cornea as the most comman affected region in (110 cases 51.2%). The initial visual acuity was equal to or below 0.1 in 157 (77.3%) of cases. This number of cases decreased to 62 (31.5%) when the stabilised final visual acuity was determined. The surgical intervention was corneal or corneoscleral reparation in 149 (69.3%) cases, cataract surgery in addition to reparation in 52 (24.2%) cases, foreign body extraction in 5 (2.3%) cases and evisseration in 9 (4.2%) cases. Conclusion: Despite advances in technology, the high incidence of visual loss after perforating globe injuries pointed out the importance of preventive efforts. Increasing the knowledge of risk groups about eye injuries, taking the necessary preventive measures during risky activities would decrease perforating eye injuries.