To evaluate the clinical results of treatment with extended wear of therapeutic contact lenses and 5% NaCl eye drops for traumatic recurrent corneal erosion.

From January 2015 to December 2017, 18 eyes of 18 patients who were first diagnosed with recurrent corneal erosion after trauma were analyzed. The age, sex, and causes of injury of the patients were analyzed. We retrospectively analyzed the recurrence rate, recurrence time, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and complications after treatment with extended wear of therapeutic contact lenses and 5% NaCl eye drops.

The mean age was 50.0 ± 12.0 years (range: 27–75 years) with no significant difference in gender and the mean follow up period was 11.6 ± 7.4 months (range: 3.5–28.0 months). Three eyes (16.7%) experienced recurrences and all of them were resolved with a therapeutic contact lens and 5% NaCl eye drops. The initial mean BCVA was 0.35 ± 0.33 logarithm of minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) and the final mean BCVA was 0.09 ± 0.06 logMAR ( p = 0.015). There were no significant complications such as bacterial keratitis, hypoxia or sterile infiltration from the extended wear of therapeutic contact lenses.

The results imply that long-term combined treatment of extended therapeutic contact lens wear with 5% NaCl eye drops may be a safe and effective therapy.