Clinical analysis of delayed corneal ulcer after corneal wound suture surgery

Objective To analyse the clinical features and etiopathogenesis of delayed corneal ulcer after corneal wound suture surgery. Methods A retrospective case study. Six eyes of six patients with delayed corneal ulcer after receiving corneal wound suture surgery were recruited. The clinical features of corneal ulcer were analysed. Outcomes of corneal confocal microscopy, corneal smear microscopy as while as bacteria and fungus culture were analyzed. Past histories of trauma, surgery and medication were also evaluated. Results Four patients were male and 2 patients were female. The age ranged from 3 to 60 years old. In four patients corneal ulcers were around the loosened corneal sutures. Three patients experienced 2 to 3 times of eye surgeries. One patient suffered from blepharitis. Two patients received long time eye dropping with glucocorticoids. Bacterial culture of the corneal ulcers showed positive in 3 cases and negative in 3 cases. Fungal culture showed that one was positive and the other five were negative. In the 6 bacterial culture at the initial traumatic time, one was positive, two were negative and the other three were unknown. For the positive one, the pathogens cultured in corneal ulcer were not the same as that cultured at initial traumatic time. Conclusion Patients who received corneal wound suture surgery should be closely followed up. Blepharitis and loosened sutures should be treated timely. Rational eyedrops using and proper controlling of multiple eye surgeries should be considered. It's also important to avoid deteriorating the ocular microenvironment which could induce the infection of cornea. Key words: Corneal ulcer; Corneal wound, sutured; Pathogen