Retained intraocular foreign bodies and visual prognosis.

FOREIGN bodies lodged in the eye following perforating injuries are serious ophthalmic emergencies. The retention of a foreign particle within the eye-ball may result in infection, sympathetic ophthalmitis, local irritative and chemical reaction apart from the mechanical damage caused at the time of the accident. The visual prognosis is extremely variable because of so many factors such as extent and site of injury, nature of foreign body, etc. Duke Elder has stated that when the foreign body is in the posterior segment of the globe and has been allowed to remained there, the end results in terms of vision are extraordinarily difficult to ascess.