Midfacial fractures and the eye: the development of a system for detecting patients at risk of eye injury--a prospective evaluation.

Midfacial trauma is often complicated by ocular disorder. A scoring system has been devised to help the maxillofacial surgeon identify patients who warrant referral to an ophthalmologist. A prospective pilot study was carried out on 100 patients with midfacial fractures to evaluate the effectiveness of this system in clinical practice. The sensitivity value was 94.4% and the specificity value was 89%. Only 1 patient, who clinically warranted referral to an ophthalmologist, was missed by the system whilst 9 others were incorrectly classified as warranting referral. The results of this evaluation demonstrate the competence of the system.