RESUMEN
The author studied 140 cases of perforating eye injury in children up to 15 years old admitted at the Clinic Hospital of the Medical College of the University of São Paulo (Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo) from January 1989 to December 1993. These cases represent 24.71% of the total of the perforating eye injuries seen during this period, showing a ratio of 76.42% of males, a ratio of 2/1 in the group from 0 to 6 years old, 7/1 in the group from 7 to 11 years old and a ratio of 3/1 in the group from 12 to 15 years old. The most common perforating eye injuries were due to sharp objects (54.71%), contusion (20%), explosions (7.85%) and flying objects (5.71%). The relation between the severity of the injury and the prognosis is emphasized. Safety precautions should be effective in order to reduce frequence and morbidity of these perforating ocular injuries.