SUMMARY
A retrospective study of 400 ocular perforating injuries from the ocular emergency centre of the University of São Paulo Medical School that ocurred from January, 1991 to December, 1992 was realized. 79.5 % of the injured were males and the group between 21 and 30 years of age was mainly affected.
Traffic accidents (30.8%), domestic accidents (27.8 %o) and those related to work activities (22.8 %o) were the main causes.
First care was carried out during the first day for 82.6% of the patients and after the third day for 8.2%.
The perforating eye injuries were considered an important cause of visual deficit because only 61 out of 283 eyes obtained a visual acuity of 20/40 or better. Safety precautions should be effective in order to reduce frequence and morbidity of these perforating ocular injuries.