We retrospectively studied 14 patients with bilateral ocular shotgun injury in order to determine overall visual prognosis and factors affecting individual prognosis. Although only eight of 28 eyes (29%) in this series recovered visual acuity of 20/100 or better, six of 14 patients (43%) recovered at least 20/100 and eight of 14 patients (57%) recovered visual acuity of at least 20/400. Tissue destruction in the form of severe ocular disorganization or direct injury of optic nerve or macula was the primary limiting factor to visual recovery in 16 of 20 eyes (80%) not recovering to 20/100, while retinal detachment was the limiting factor in only four of these 20 eyes (20%). While extensive ocular disorganization, direct optic nerve or macular injury, no light perception on initial examination, and multiple pellet injuries were predictive of poor outcome, retinal detachment and double perforating injury were not.
