ABSTRACT
Eye trauma is a major cause of blindness, especially in children. A substantial proportion of trauma patients develop serious complications. This study includes 319 Arab patients with ocular trauma ranging in age from 4 to 60 years [median 17.6]. In 180 cases [56%], the cause was blunt trauma which precipitated hyphaema. A further 114 cases [36%] were caused by perforated ocular wounds, and there were 15 [8%] intraocular foreign bodies. The complication rate was 65.6%: cataract in 160 [50%], vitreous haemorrhage in 23 [7%], retinal detachment in 21 [6.6%], traumatic maculophathy in 7 [2%], endophthalmitis in 2 and glaucoma in 5. Visual results included 25 monocular blindness [7.8%], 58 [18%] who could only count fingers or perceive light [monocular], 18 with vision between 6/36 and 6/60, 27 [8.2%] between 6/18 and 6/24, and 191 [60%] with 6/12 or better