CLINICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT OF WARTIME EYE AND ORBIT INJURIES

Objective: The purpose of this study is to present our experience in t reating 191 patients with eye and orbit injuries that occurred during the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Methods: The authors re trospectively reviewed the clinical and radiological management of war time eye and orbit injuries in patients hospitalized at Clinical Hospi tal Split. Results: Seventy-nine percent of the war eye and orbit inju ries were caused by fragments of explosive devices, 9.9% by high veloc ity missiles, and 8.4% by other objects. Most of the patients were adm itted to the hospital within 24 hours of injury. The total number of i njured globes was 222; 48.2% of globes had intrabulbar (mostly magneti c) foreign bodies, and 13% had extrabulbar intraorbital foreign bodies . Extensive wounds (perforation, double perforation, rupture, and evis ceration/ enucleation) were encountered in 74% of patients, and 26% of patients had slight trauma. There was a statistically significant cor relation between admission within the first 12 hours and postoperative visual acuity (chi(2) = 3.93; P = 0.0474), Conclusion: Along with cli nical examination, computed tomography is the most important diagnosti c procedure in preoperative evaluation of various forms of globe and o rbit injuries. The admission time is the most Important factor in dete rmining postoperative visual acuity.