Very Challenging Cases to Diagnose: Concealed Foreign Bodies in the Upper Palpebral Conjunctiva Should Always Be Kept in Mind in Unresolved, Long-Lasting Chronic Ocular Pain

This report reviews cases in which hidden foreign bodies were responsible for unresolved, long-lasting chronic ocular pain. All records referencing the phrase “foreign body removal” were extracted from the outpatient clinic notes recorded by the author (H.T.) between 2016 and 2018 at Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital using the search engine of the computerized record system. There were 3 cases that were very difficult to diagnose: (1) a very minute iron sha rd in a 72-year-old female cataract surgery patient, (2) a deeply hidden eyelash in a 60-year-old female with varicella-zoster virus-related keratoconjunctivitis, and (3) an extremely small grain of sand in an 83-year-old female diagnosed with dry eye. In all cases, the foreign body was detected in an area of the upper palpebral conjunctiva without typical pathognomonic signs. Removing the foreign bodies led to immediate and dramatic relief of long-lasting, previously unresolved chronic ocular pain.Case Rep Ophthalmol 2022;13:1030 –1035
Source: Case Reports in Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research