title: [Etiology and prognosis of the eye traumas by war weapons in the Senegalese army].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this work is to identify the main weapons causing eye injuries during the campaigns of the Senegalese army in the south of the country, as well as the prognosis of these traumas.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is retrospective and concerns soldiers wounded by the weapons of war during the exercise of their mission within the Senegalese armed forces of 1991 in 2005. They are mainly soldiers affected in the south of the country during a war, clashes with the rebels or in Guinea-Bissau during operation Gabou in 1998. And they were evacuated to the ophthalmology department of the Principal Hospital in Dakar, which is a level 3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven military all male, with an average age of 30.5 years. Forty-six eyes including 9 bilateral cases. The trauma agent is a burst of RPG7 shells in 62% of cases, mine explosion in 13.5%, offensive grenade 10.8%, assault rifle 5.7% and flame lance-roquette anti-char (LRAC) accounts for 8%. We noted a phthisis of the globe for 14 eyes (30.43%) and for 15 eyes (32.60%) a functional loss of the affected globe. Inability to fight was decided by 29 wounded soldiers (78.37% of the cases), sedentary employment in 27 cases (72.97%) and 10 cases (27.03%) of reformed soldiers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the conflict in southern Senegal, the RPG7 shell burst causes 62% of eye injuries. This RPG7 shell called "rebel weapon" is frequently used in conflicts in Africa. The prognosis of trauma with these types of weapons is severe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combat goggles systematically integrated in the equipment of the Senegalese combatant, would be an invaluable contribution on the prevention of the traumatisms of the eye.
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal. Electronic address: smseck70@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Seck
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diakhaté
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ndiaye Sow
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dieng
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agboton
authors.affiliation: Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital principal de Dakar, avenue Nelson-Mandela, BP 3006, Dakar, Sénégal.
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Guèye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015807:Eye Injuries, Penetrating / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012675:Senegal / Q000453:epidemiology; D014857:Warfare; D054041:Weapons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Armes de guerre; Eye trauma; Implications; Implications médico-militaires; Servicemen; Traumatisme oculaire; Weapons of medical war