Posterior avulsion of the optic nerve due to deceleration trauma

A patient with complete transection of the optic nerve (posterior avulsion) and explosion of the eyeball, due to an attempted suicide is reported. The symptoms, mechanism of injury and therapeutic possibilities in complete transection and in partial posterior optic nerve avulsions are discussed. Although this case ended up with enucleation, the partial avulsions are not without hope. The importance of team-work is emphasized in polytraumatic patients.