Suriye İç Savaşı?ndaki Açık Göz Küresi Yaralanmaları

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the incidence and severity of open globe injuries among the Syrian anti-regime forces and Syrian civilians in Syrian Civil War. Material and Methods: Open globe injuries were retrospectively analyzed on 39 patients (43 eyes) hospitalized at Kilis State Hospital in Turkey, Department of Ophthalmology, between August 2012 and May 2013. Informed patient consents were obtained preoperatively. We reported the causes and localization of ocular injury, presence of the intraocular foreign body and the microsurgical treatment applied. Results: A total of 43 eyes of 39 patients were included in the study. The average age was 24.8 years, ranging from 4 to 50. Ten patients (25.6%) were <18 years old, and 29 patients (74.4%) were ≥ 18 years old. Four patients (10.2%) had bilateral eye injuries. While fragments of explosive devices (rockets, grenades) were responsible for 26 eye injuries (60.5%), gunshots were the cause of the 17 eye injuries (39.5%). Primary evisceration was performed on 4 eyes (9.3%), because of the destruction of the eye. Conclusion: Extraordinary presentations and subversive visual results are common in war-related open-globe injuries, and ocular injuries are much more severe than those held in civilian life. We think that surgical treatment urgently needs to be done in war-related open globe injuries and these patients can refer to advanced centers after surgical repairment. We consider that because the severity of ocular injuries was very high in our study, most of our patients had unfavorable visual outcomes in the remaining part of their lives, despite of immediate surgical treatment. Our study is the first clinical practice on open globe eye injuries during Syrian Civil War. In conclusion, we believe that we can draw attention to the tragedy that is going on in Syria as a result of the violent civil war.