[Ocular lesions caused by pellet guns. Epidemiological study on 160 patients]

We present a retrospective study of ocular trauma related to pellet guns. Over a period of 5 years, 160 such patients were seen in our emergency unit. Eighty per cent of cases were men, with a mean age of 28 years. Ocular trauma was due to a fight in 85%. Ocular trauma was unilateral in 109 patients, and bilateral in 51 patients. We observed a complete disorganisation of the eye in 8 eyes, intraocular foreign bodies in 71 eyes, intraorbital foreign bodies without ocular lacerations in 23 eyes, and blunt trauma in 108 eyes. Final vision was poor or absent in 31 eyes.