Incidence and severity of ocular and adnexal injuries during the Second Lebanon War among Israeli soldiers and civilians

Purpose To analyze the incidence and severity of ocular and adnexal injuries in the Second Lebanon War among Israeli soldiers and civilians. Design Retrospective cohort study. Participants All patients recorded in the Israeli National Trauma Registry during the Second Lebanon War (July- August, 2006). Methods Retrieval of all data relevant to ocular and adnexal injuries sustained during the study period, and differentiation between those associated with combat/terrorist and other events. Main outcome measures Analysis of data according to the severity of trauma , anatomical location of the injury, and whether the patients were military personnel or civilians. Results A total of 69 war-related ocular trauma patients (58 military personnel and 11 civilians) were registered during the 34 days of war. The injuries involved the anterior segment injury (n=25), posterior segment (n=29) and the periocular region (n=15, all severe). Twenty-seven of the patients had open-globe injuries, of which 18 involved intraocular foreign bodies, and 27 patients had closed-globe injuries. The rate of ocular injuries was 7% among all registered wounded military personnel and 1.2% among all injured civilians. Conclusion The incidence and severity of ocular and adnexal injuries among military personnel during the Second Lebanon War were consistent with previous reports from American sources of ocular injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rates of ocular injury associated with wartime events sustained by civilians has not been investigated before, and it was relatively low, probably as a result of stringent government-mandated building regulations for passive defense that are discussed.