Background: This study was carried out to determine the frequency of severe ocular injuries and identify their nature.

Material and Methods: 221 consecutive patients with severe eye injuries referred to emergency room of Matini hospital of Kashan University of Medical Sciences (KAUMS) during a twelve month period were enrolled to this cross -sectional study . All patients were visited by trained general physicians and after consultation with ophthalmologists were treated appropriately. Data were recorded and analyzed by means of descriptive statistics.

Results: Out of 221 patients 186 (84.2%) were male. Male to female ratio was 5:1 and the average age 22±14 years (range 1-85 years). Most ocular traumas occurred at age 11-30 years (57%). The most common types of eye injury were eyelid laceration (39.8%), corneal laceration (18.6%), conjunctival laceration (13.1%) and hyphema (11.3%). Ninety percent of patients were referred to emergency room within 24 hours after trauma. Workplace and home-related ocular injuries accounted for 63.4% of cases. Fifty two percent of eye traumas were penetrating, 44% blunt and 4% of missile type. None of them used protective glasses.

Conclusion: Our study showed that young males and children composed the majority of eye injury victims, so it is recommended to use safe measures in theses groups.