Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of the children who presented with OEI to a tertiary eye care center between January, 2017 and July, 2019. The cases were stratified into two groups as preschool (2-5years) and school-age (6-16years) children.

Results: The study included 39 eyes of 37 cases. The mean age was 7.38±4.01 years and male: female ratio was 1.85. The study included 22 eyes of 22 preschool and 17 eyes of 15 school-age children. It was seen that the most common OEIs were OEI by a sharp object (25 cases; 64.1%), penetrating OEI (35 cases; 89,7%), zone I OEI (19 cases; 48.7%), corneoscleral OEI (19 cases; 48.7)) and small OEI (<5 mm in size) (18 cases;46,2%). Intraocular foreign body was detected in 5 cases (12.8%). No significant relationship was found between lens damage and cause of trauma (p=0.427); whereas there was a significant correlation between size of injury and retinal detachment (p<0.0001 for both). It was found that there was bilateral OEI in 2 of 5 cases injured during the Syrian civil war and that 3 cases underwent evisceration.

Conclusion: Unlike the children who were seriously injured in the war environment, it was determined that children in peace environment were exposed to OEI with milder symptoms, mostly by preventable reasons. The results of this study show the severe effects of war on children; in addition, it may help to raise awareness and take first steps for prevention of OEI in children in peace. Keywords : Eye injuries, open-globe injury, trauma