Chemical eye injury

An alkali burn to the human cornea can cause ocular surface failure with neovascularisation, opacification and blindness resulting from LESC deficiency.

Chemical eye injury or chemical burns to the eye are due to either an acidic or alkali substance getting in the eye.[1] Alkalis are typically worse than acidic burns.[2] Mild burns will produce conjunctivitis while more severe burns may cause the cornea to turn white.[2] Litmus paper is an easy way to rule out the diagnosis by verifying that the pH is within the normal range of 7.0—7.2.[1] Large volumes of irrigation is the treatment of choice and should continue until the pH is 6—8.[2] Local anaesthetic eye drops can be used to decrease the pain.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Zentani A, Burslem J (December 2009). "Towards evidence based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 4: use of litmus paper in chemical eye injury". Emerg Med J 26 (12): 887. doi:10.1136/emj.2009.086124. PMID 19934140.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hodge C, Lawless M (July 2008). "Ocular emergencies". Aust Fam Physician 37 (7): 506–9. PMID 18592066.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.