J Ophthalmol. 2014;2014:196827. doi: 10.1155/2014/196827. Epub 2014 Jul 1.

The ocular surface chemical burns.

Eslani M¹, Baradaran-Rafii A², Movahedan A¹, Djalilian AR¹.

Author information

• ¹Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
• ²Labbafinejad Medical Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Ocular chemical burns are common and serious ocular emergencies that require immediate and intensive evaluation and care. The victims of such incidents are usually young, and therefore loss of vision and disfigurement could dramatically affect their lives. The clinical course can be divided into immediate, acute, early, and late reparative phases. The degree of limbal, corneal, and conjunctival involvement at the time of injury is critically associated with prognosis. The treatment starts with simple but vision saving steps and is continued with complicated surgical procedures later in the course of the disease. The goal of treatment is to restore the normal ocular surface anatomy and function. Limbal stem cell transplantation, amniotic membrane transplantation, and ultimately keratoprosthesis may be indicated depending on the patients' needs.