Today in weird patienta woman who forgot too often that she had already put in her contact lenses…
A 67-year-old woman presents to a hospital in Birmingham (UK) for cataract surgery. Despite the fact that she has been wearing lenses for more than 35 years, he can no longer see clearly. The ophthalmologist and the anesthetist who will take care of her proceed to anesthetize her eyes to begin the surgery. But this routine operation then takes an unexpected turn. A hard, bluish lump emerges from its upper conjunctiva, the transparent membrane that lines the upper and lower eyelids.
lost contact lenses
The doctors remove this foreign body and realize that it is no less than 17 contact lenses compacted and stuck together by mucus. A more detailed exploration of the patient’s eyes, under an operating microscope, reveals ten more. The patient had forgotten to remove a total of 27 contact lenses stuck in her eyes. Yet, apart from her poor vision, she did not report any problems to the doctor before her operation.
The doctors explain this exceptional case by two factors, the poor sight of their patient, especially for the right eye, but also the deep implantation of her eyes in their orbit, which could have complicated the fitting and the removal of the lenses. The patient had no sequelae related to the presence or removal of the lost lenses.
Lenses can sometimes disappear from the surface of the cornea. Contrary to popular belief, they cannot slip behind the eyeball. The anatomy of the eyes does not allow this. On the other hand, they can slip into the gap between the eyeball and the upper and lower eyelids. To bring the misplaced lens back to the middle of the cornea, doctors recommend moistening the eyes and gently massaging them until it reappears. If this is not enough, a consultation with the ophthalmologist is preferable.
