Contact lenses after corneal lacerations.

Contact lenses were fit after traumatic corneal lacerations in 30 eyes (28 patients). Twenty-eight of the eyes (93%) were aphakic. Twenty-two of the 30 eyes (73%) wore the contact lens successfully (average follow-up 22 months). The visual acuity with the contact lens was 20/40 or better in 25 eyes (83%). In 13 eyes (43%) the final contact lens fit was a rigid gas permeable lens, with a daily wear soft contact lens as the final lens in 17 eyes (57%). The eight failures included four patients who were contact lens intolerant, two who had binocular diplopia, and two who lacked motivation. All but one of 12 (92%) small corneal lacerations (less than 3 mm) were successfully fit with contact lenses. Eleven out of the 13 (85%) central large lacerations, but none of the five large peripheral lacerations could be successfully fit with a contact lens. Three of the 30 eyes (10%) developed late retinal detachments. Contact lenses are successful in the majority of patients referred after corneal lacerations, but fitting these patients is challenging and time consuming.