- Frequently occurs during grinding and drilling steel without wearing
protective goggles.
- Clinical features:
- Symptoms: foreign body sensation, continuous irritation or ocular
pain.
- Signs:
- Variety of objects may accidentally be lodged superficially
or embedded deep within the cornea
- Vertical corneal abrasions give clues about upper tarsal
embedded foreign bodies
- Metallic foreign bodies often leave rust rings in the surrounding
cornea.
- Management:
- Careful examination of the entire eye to rule out intraocular
foreign bodies.
- CT-scanning or MRI (contraindicated when metallic foreign body
is suspected).
- Superficial foreign bodies may simply be removed at the slit
lamp after instillation of a topical anesthetic using a moist
cotton-tipped applicator of fine gauge needle.
- Irrigation is occasionally done to dislodge multiple particles
or small fragments.
- Superior tarsal conjunctiva has to be carefully examined, as
it is a common location for a hidden foreign body.
- Deeply embedded foreign bodies may be removed with forceps.
- If perforation is suspected, the removal should be done in
the OR.
- Every foreign body should be removed unless removal may cause
greater damage than allowing it to stay undisturbed.
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