Vitreoretinal surgery in war injuries of the eye

Results of vitreoretinal surgeries of 647 severe penetrating injuries of the eye, sustained during the war operations in the territory of former Yugoslavia, in the period from 01.07.1991. to 31.12.1998. were analyzed in the paper. A total of 558 pars plana vitrectomies, 459 intrabulbar foreign bodies' extractions and 360 surgeries of traumatic retinal detachments (89 in the conventional way) were performed at the Clinic of Ophthalmology--Department for Vitreoretinal Surgery of the Military Medical Academy. Certain innovations in the surgical treatment of the severely injured eye with the damage of posterior eye segment, as well as the lens, were presented. In those cases, (simultaneously with pars plana vitrectomy, and extraction of retained intrabulbar foreign body), the primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation was also performed, particularly posterior chamber IOL implantation following lensectomy, as well as phacoemulsification.