Posters

Retained contact lenses in a vulnerable adult: a case report

Poster Details

First Author: Z.Sharif UK

Co Author(s): R. Sharma                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To report a case of multiple contact lenses retained for three years in the upper tarsal space of a nursing home resident with dementia. To our knowledge, this is the first case in the literature describing several contact lenses retained in a vulnerable adult and presenting as an infected painful red eye.

Setting:

Eye Causality. Department of Ophthalmology. Queen's Hospital Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UK)

Methods:

Case Report. Written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s next of kin for presentation of this case report and any accompanying images

Results:

We report a case of an 85-year-old female nursing home resident with dementia, who presented to causality with an 8-month history of a painful red eye and reduced vision.She had been previously treated on and off for bacterial conjunctivitis but with no improvement. Eversion of the upper eye lid revealed an infected foreign body which turned out to be two contact lenses stacked on top of each other Further history taking from her son suggested that the contact lenses were possibly left in for 3 years or longer when he noticed carers stopped replacing them at the care home.

Conclusions:

Care and attention should be given when taking a history and examining patients with dementia. Our case highlights the importance of being patient and methodical when assessing patients with dementia and ensuring adequate topical local anaesthesic drops are applied during clinical examination. The case also stresses the importance of lid eversion, especially in patients who might have difficulty providing a history of a misplaced contact lens. Patients with dementia should be advised against contact lens wear.

Financial Disclosure:

None