RT Book, Section
A1 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 57716696
T1 Chapter 154. Contact Lens Removal
T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-161352-1
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57716696
RD 2024/04/23
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