Infection / Ulcer Management
if corneal ulcers cannot be treated with medication, you may also need corneal transplant surgery to keep your vision.
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Corneal Ulcer Treatment in Ambala
What is Corneal Ulcer?
Fungal keratitis is a much less common cause of corneal ulcers in Northern India.
Is a corneal ulcer serious?
Is a corneal ulcer a medical emergency?
Symptoms and Causes
What are the symptoms of a corneal ulcer?
Symptoms of a corneal ulcer include:
- Red, teary, bloodshot eye.
- Eye pain (can be severe), eye ache.
- Pus or other eye discharge.
- A feeling like there’s something in your eye.
- Light hurts your eye.
- Blurred vision.
- Swollen eyelids.
- A white or gray spot or area on your cornea. (Some ulcers are too small to see. Your provider can see it during an eye exam.)
A corneal ulcer usually develops in one eye only.
A note from LJ Eye Institute
Corneal ulcers are a vision-threatening eye emergency. Even a minor eye injury can lead to a corneal ulcer. If you think you have symptoms of a corneal ulcer, contact your eye doctor right away. They will examine your eye, make the diagnosis and start treatment. If you wear contact lenses, make sure you know how to properly insert, clean and store them.
What are the causes of a corneal ulcer?
Causes of corneal ulcers include:
- Bacterial infections. Bacterial infections are the most common cause of corneal ulcers. These infections are common in contact lens wearers who don’t properly clean their contacts or wear them while sleeping. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, coagulase-negative staphylococcus and staphylococcus aureus are common bacterial causes.
- Viral infections. Viruses that can flare up and cause corneal ulcers include cold sores (herpes simplex) and shingles (herpes zoster).
- Fungal infections. These infections can happen if you have an injury to your cornea followed by an infection with plant or vegetable material. Aspergillus, Fusarium, Scedosporium apiospermum, phaeohyphpmycetes and candida species are common fungal causes.
- Parasitic infections. Acanthamoeba is an amoeba found in air, fresh water and soil. An infection, Acanthamoeba keratitis, occurs when the organism gets into your eye. This can happen if you wear contact lenses and clean your lenses with tap water instead of disinfectant solution.
Other causes
- Corneal abrasions. Bacteria can infect cuts, scrapes or scratches to your eye. Abrasions can happen from a fingernail scratch to your eye, a particle of dirt or other material that gets trapped or rubbed in your eye and other causes.
- Corneal burns. Certain chemicals found at home or work can get into your eye and erode your cornea.
- Severe dry eyes. This is a condition in which your tears (your eye’s “windshield washers”) can’t properly clean and lubricate your eyes. Without tears, particles remain on your eye and may scratch it and infection can set in.
- Eyelid closure problems. Disorders that don’t allow your eyelids to close all the way can lead to dry eye conditions, which can lead to a corneal ulcer. Disorders include Bell’s palsy, Grave’s disease and other thyroid disorders. Other eyelid or eyelash problems that can lead to corneal ulcers include ingrown eyelashes (trichiasis), eyelid inflammation (blepharitis) and an in-turned eyelid (entropion).
- Autoimmune diseases. Several autoimmune diseases can cause peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK), which leads to a corneal ulcer. Types of autoimmune diseases tied to PUK include rheumatoid arthritis, Wegener granulomatosis, relapsing polychondritis, polyarteritis nodosa, Churg-Strauss syndrome and microscopic polyangiitis.
- Vitamin A deficiency. Lack of vitamin A causes the cornea to become dry. It also helps build new eye tissue. Most people in developed countries get plenty of vitamin A, but people with digestive problems or unusual diets can have low vitamin A. In the developing world, vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of childhood blindness.
How is a corneal ulcer diagnosed?
- Perform an examination with a slit lamp microscope. The slit lamp focuses a narrow “slit” of light onto the eye. A slit lamp exam is a normal part of an eye exam.
- Your provider may apply a fluorescein dye to your eye. This yellow dye highlights any damage to your cornea.
- Take a sample of the infected tissue. The results will show the type of infection and guide medication choice for treatment.
How long will I need to take medications?
How long does it take for a corneal ulcer to heal?
What can happen if a corneal ulcer is not treated?
- Scars on your cornea that may interfere with your vision.
- Severe vision loss or blindness.
- Astigmatism
- Cataracts or glaucoma
- Loss of your eye if the infection spreads (rare)
Is there any laser treatment?
When is corneal transplant surgery considered?
- Medications can’t treat your corneal ulcer.
- The medications healed the corneal ulcer but left a scar that interferes with your vision and is too deep for laser treatment (PTK).
In either case, you’ll need a new cornea to restore your vision. The tissue for a corneal transplant comes from a person who has recently died. The tissue is tested to make sure it’s healthy before the old corneal tissue is removed and the new tissue is stitched in place in your eye.
What are the complications of a corneal transplant?
- Rejection of the donor tissue.
- Eye infection.
- Swelling of the cornea.
- Development of glaucoma or cataracts.
What can I expect if I have this condition?
Why does wearing contact lenses increase the risk of a corneal ulcer?
A contact lens wearer is about 10 times more likely to get a corneal ulcer than someone who doesn’t wear contacts. Someone who sleeps in contact lenses is about 100 times more likely to get an ulcer than someone who doesn’t wear contacts.
What’s the difference between a corneal abrasion and a corneal ulcer?
A Corneal Abrasion is a scrape or scratch on your cornea. These corneal injuries usually heal on their own
A Corneal Ulcer is an open sore on your cornea. Infections, dry eye and other conditions cause a corneal ulcer.
What’s the difference between a corneal ulcer and keratitis?
A corneal ulcer is an open wound — a loss of corneal tissue — that’s often the result of an eye infection.
Keratitis is a more general term for a group of disease processes that cause inflammation of your cornea. Eye infection, injury and wearing contact lenses too long — some of the same causes of corneal ulcer — also cause eye inflammation. Keratitis can lead to a corneal ulcer.
Both conditions can lead to vision loss.
Cornea Surgeon Dr. Vikas Mittal
Performed 3000+ Cornea Transplant Surgeries
My Approach
1. Whether the patient really need cornea transplant or not. Although cornea transplant is most successful transplant in human body. Still transplant is transplant. If not that much necessary we will not do transplant.
2. If it really needed then we will see which technique is most appropriate for that patient. It is not a blanket that every cornea patient need same technique. So cornea transplant technique very from one patient to another. We see what is disease, type of transplant needed which technique will give highest success rate like 90% to 95%.
3. Follow Up : we have developed a strong follow up system. We take regular follow ups. So that rejection chances or infection chances are minimum.
I think how in compassionate manner I can treat this patients. I think like this is my family member and how I can treat my family member in best possible way.
How can I reduce my risk of a Corneal Ulcer?
Contact lens use is the highest risk factor for a corneal ulcer. With this in mind, some helpful tips for contact lens wearers include:
- Always wash your hands before touching your eyes.
- Properly clean and disinfect your contact lenses before and after wearing them.
- Don’t sleep while wearing your contact lenses. Always take them out every night.
- Don’t swim or shower in your contacts.
- Don’t buy contacts from nonmedical sources.
- Don’t wear your contacts if your eyes are irritated.
- Clean and sterilize your contact lens case with the proper solutions.
- Be aware of the increased risk of infection with extended wear lenses. Talk with your eye care provider or optician if you have questions.
- Ask your eye care provider when to throw out and replace your contacts.
- Always wear protective eyewear if you work or have hobbies that put you at risk for an eye injury.
How many Cornea Ulcer / infection cases handled at LJ Eye Institute till time?
Cornea Transplants
DMEK Surgeries
DSEK Surgeries
C3R Surgeries
Management and Treatment of Corneal Ulcer
Corneal ulcers are treated with anti-infective medications or surgery if medications aren’t an option.
Medication choice is based on what’s causing the infection. Eye drops containing antibiotics (for bacterial infections), antifungals (for fungal infections) and antivirals (for viral infections) are the usual treatments. Your eye care provider may sometimes choose oral medication (taken by mouth) or an injection, given near your eye.
Your eye care provider may also prescribe oral medication to reduce pain. Steroid eye drops are sometimes given to reduce eye inflammation and swelling. Because steroid drops may worsen an infection, you should follow your provider’s recommendations about their use. Your eye care provider will discuss this and all available treatment options.
Technology @ LJEI
Technology Available For Cornea Treatments at LJEI
LJ Eye Institute employs ultra-advanced technologies for Cornea Transplant procedures.
- We utilize Femtosecond LASER technology for Cornea Transplants, ensuring precision and accuracy compared to conventional blade methods.
- Our facility is equipped with specialized equipment including Specular Microscope for assessing corneal power, Topography, Pentacam, Anterion, and OCT for comprehensive evaluation.
- We integrate the latest available technologies from around the world to achieve the highest success rates in Cornea Transplants.
- For pediatric cases, we have a dedicated spare system and have extensively researched Pediatric Cornea diseases, with publications in national and international medical journals.
- LJ Eye Institute is at the forefront of Stem Cell Transplantation, particularly in the pioneering SLET technique, with numerous published papers showcasing our advancements and modifications in the field.
Still Have Questions?
Cornea Patients Feedbacks
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