Multi-procedure management in an eyeglasses-related open globe injury

We present a case of successful multi-procedure management of a patient with an open globe injury. A 47-year-old man sustained an injury to his left eye caused by glass fragments of his own spectacles shattered while he was protecting an unknown woman from physical assault at a bus stop. Over a span of 65 months the patient underwent multiple procedures including primary wound repair, penetrating keratoplasty combined with extracapsular cataract extraction, neodymium : YAG laser capsulotomy, and laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (IASEK), and had a successfully treated episode of corneal graft rejection. This sequence of treatment substantially improved his left eye vision from hand movements at the time of admission to 0.9-0.5 x 90 at the last follow-up nearly 10 years after the trauma. Proper initial surgical management of an open globe injury can create the possibility for virtually complete vision restoration.