On-eye breakage and recovery of mini-scleral contact lens without compromise for the ocular surface

Purpose

To report the on-eye breakage of a mini-scleral contact lens in a healthy cornea after being hit by a speeding object, without causing any severe corneal damage.

Case report

A 24-year-old Caucasian male involved in a clinical study reported the in situ breakage of a mini-scleral contact lens during motorbike maintenance. The patient reported eye redness and irritation that significantly decreased after all the pieces of the lens were recovered from the eye. Ocular examinations within 48?h showed absence of corneal damage other than superficial punctate keratitis inferiorly and no fragments of the lens were found in the conjunctival sac. The patient was wearing a 15.2?mm mini-scleral lens in a high Dk material. The evolution of rigid materials towards higher Dk values has resulted in a decreased hardness and modulus values, so these materials are more elastic when subjected to mechanical stress, which could be a beneficial aspect in absorbing the energy of an impact before breaking in pieces.

Conclusion

This case report shows that ScCL could have a protective effect to the corneal surface from the direct impact of a high-speed object. Mechanical material properties, wide supporting area and post-lens tear volume acted as protective factors helping to absorb and distribute the kinetic energy of the impacting object.