[Ten years of destructive eyeball surgery in Lomé]

Destructive surgery of the eyeball comprises radical procedures - evisceration, enucleation, and exenteration - with various indications. The purpose of this study was to determine the features of these procedures in Lomé.

We conducted a retrospective study reviewing records for all patients undergoing these procedures in 3 ophthalmic centers in Lomé in the decade from 2002 through 2011.

Of 6240 eye operations, 76 involved one of these three procedures, for a frequency of 1.2%. Patients' mean age was 40.1 ± 26.9 years (range: 1 day to 91 years). The sex ratio (of men to women) was 1.2. The principal indications were staphyloma (38%), ocular and orbital tumors (30%), and phthisis bulbi (24%). Retinoblastoma was the leading type of ocular/orbital tumor (52%). Local anesthesia was performed in 64% of cases, and general anesthesia in 36%. Evisceration was practiced in 67% of cases, enucleation in 24%, and exenteration in 9%. An ocular prosthesis was placed in 46%.

Staphyloma was the leading indication for destructive surgery. Given the damage of this type of procedure, primary prevention is important, including early and adequate management of ocular conditions.