Long-term follow-up and the role of vitrectomy in the treatment of perforating eye injuries without intraocular foreign bodies.

The long-term results of 292 consecutive eyes with a perforating eye injury without an intraocular foreign body treated with or without pars plana vitrectomy are reported. With the mean follow-up time of 31.0 months 45 eyes (15%) were enucleated and another 47 eyes (16%) were blind (visual acuity less than 0.05). The retina was attached in 87% of the non-enucleated eyes. The visual outcome was considerably better in eyes with anterior segment injuries (ASI) compared to posterior segment injuries (PSI). Eyes with primary vitreous haemorrhage had poorer visual prognosis than eyes without haemorrhage. Vitrectomy improved the prognosis of the former eyes, but in the whole series the visual acuity was better in eyes in which vitrectomy was not performed (not considered indicated). Of the vitrectomized eyes, 55% in the ASI group and 25% in the PSI group received useful vision (visual acuity greater than or equal to 0.05). Excluding the very late vitrectomies, a statistically significant correlation was found between the timing of vitrectomy and the late visual outcome.