Contact Lense Overwear

Definition:  A patient that has severe pain a short time after removing a contact lens  

Signs/Symptoms:  

  • Blurred vision from corneal edema

  • Injection

  • Severe pain

Differential Diagnosis:

Causes: usually involves sleeping in daily wear or hard contact lenses. 


Contact Lens


Contact Lens

Evaluation:

  • Visual acuity

  • Remove the contact lens if not already removed

  • Fluorscein stain of the cornea

  • Observe for foreign body and abrasion

Treatment:

  • Rewetting of a dry contact lens should be the first line of management while lens is still in place in the eye. 

  • If initial therapy is ineffective the contact lens should be removed.

  • If fluorescein stain is positive for corneal epithelial defects the antibiotic therapy should be instituted 

    • Ciprofloxacin 4 times a day should be used until corneal defects have resolved.

  • Reevaluate daily until resolved. 

  • Contacts should not be replaced into the eye until total resolution takes place

Prognosis:

Generally good

Patients may need one day for recovery

This does not warrant medvac, but observation for corneal ulcer should be done daily.

This section provided by CAPT Robert B. North, Jr., MC, USN

 

Home  ·  Military Medicine  ·  Sick Call  ·  Basic Exams  ·  Medical Procedures  ·  Lab and X-ray  ·  The Pharmacy  ·  The Library  ·  Equipment  ·  Patient Transport  ·  Medical Force Protection  ·  Operational Safety  ·  Operational Settings  ·  Special Operations  ·  Humanitarian Missions  ·  Instructions/Orders  ·  Other Agencies  ·  Video Gallery  ·  Forms  ·  Web Links  ·  Acknowledgements  ·  Help  ·  Feedback

Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Department of the Navy
2300 E Street NW
Washington, D.C
20372-5300

Operational Medicine
 Health Care in Military Settings
CAPT Michael John Hughey, MC, USNR
NAVMED P-5139
  January 1, 2001

United States Special Operations Command
7701 Tampa Point Blvd.
MacDill AFB, Florida
33621-5323

*This web version is provided by The Brookside Associates, LLC.  It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMED P-5139, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. The medical information presented was reviewed and felt to be accurate in 2001. Medical knowledge and practice methods may have changed since that time. Some links may no longer be active. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense.

© 2015, Brookside Associates, LLC. All rights reserved

Other Brookside Products

 

Advertise on this site