The purpose was to determine the common causes of thermal eye
burns, clinical presentation, man agement and its complications. The result revealed that
all of the 13 patients (22 unperforated affected eyes) were men with a mean age 25.2+ 11.7
years (+ SD). Most of the injuries occurred at work, the commonest cause was molten iron
(5 cases, 38.5%) The majority of cases had pain with decreased vision. Nine cases
(69.3%) were affected bilaterally. Nine eyes (40.9%) had severe decreased vision (~6/60)
before treatment, while 3 eyes (13.6%) had not improved after treatment. Fifteen eyes
(68.2%) had central corneal and lid burns. The average wound healing time was 11.2 +11.5
days (+SD.).
Complications accounted for
23.1% ; such as corneal opacity, lid scar, pseudopterygium. Due to the short
duration of follow up, no symblepharon was found.
