TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 154. Contact Lens Removal A1 - Reichman, Eric F. PY - 2013 T2 - Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e AB - The Emergency Physician must be familiar with the proper technique of removing both soft and hard contact lenses from patients who are unable to do so on their own for various reasons. Patients with altered mental status are at particular risk of corneal damage if contact lenses are allowed to remain in place. Healthy individuals who wear contact lenses overnight experience a 4- to 15-fold increase in the risk of corneal injury over those who remove their contact lenses daily.1 The explanation for this increased risk of injury is based on the development of corneal hypoxia and an immune response to antigens present on the lens surface, both of which lead to an inflammatory response and susceptibility to infectious organisms.1 This results in an increased incidence of ulcerative keratitis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection, and corneal neovascularization.2,3 SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57716696 ER -