Effect of urokinase on posterior penetrating eye injuries.

We studied the effect of urokinase on the natural course of posterior penetrating eye injury in an animal model that consistently results in late tractional retinal detachment. A standard penetrating injury was performed on both eyes of 20 rabbits. Each eye received 0.4 mL of heterologous rabbit plasma. Then 10 000 U of urokinase was injected in one randomly chosen eye of each animal; an equal volume of balanced salt solution (BSS) was injected in the other. By 5 to 6 weeks after the surgery 13 (65%) of the 20 urokinase-injected eyes and 15 (75%) of the 20 BSS-injected eyes showed retinal detachment; the proportions are not significantly different. Gross and microscopic study of the enucleated, sectioned eyes failed to reveal any features distinguishing the control and urokinase-treated eyes. Thus, urokinase did not appreciably alter the natural course of development of late tractional retinal detachment after posterior penetrating eye injury.