Comparison of Clinical Outcomes in Patched Versus Unpatched Patients Following Corneal Metallic Foreign Body Removal

Background: Metallic corneal foreign bodies are common occupational eye injuries. After removal, the epithelial defect may cause pain, photophobia, watering and foreign-body sensation. Eye patching has a plausible supportive role by reducing lid movement and shielding the injured surface during the early recovery period. Its benefit remains debated, making comparative clinical observations after metallic foreign-body removal relevant. The aim is to compare short-term epithelial healing and symptoms in patients managed with an eye patch versus no patch after removal of an uncomplicated metallic corneal foreign body. Material and Methods: This prospective randomized comparative study included 150 patients with a small post-removal epithelial defect, presenting within 24 hours of injury. Seventy-five patients were allocated to the patched group and 75 to the unpatched group. The source manuscript describes chloramphenicol ointment followed by patching for 18–24 hours in Group A and topical moxifloxacin 0.5% four times daily in Group B. Symptoms and fluorescein-staining defect size were assessed at baseline and after 18–24 hours; follow-up continued on Days 2 and 3. Results: The manuscript reports an approximate baseline defect size of 2 × 2 mm in both groups. At 18–24 hours, the reported residual defect was approximately 0.2 × 0.2 mm in the patched group and 0.5 × 0.5 mm in the unpatched group. Pain was reported in 55% versus 50% at baseline and 11% versus 15% at follow-up, respectively. Watering/photophobia decreased from 60% to 26% in the patched group and from 57% to 30% in the unpatched group. Foreign-body sensation decreased from 95% to 15% and from 92% to 18%, respectively. Complete healing in both groups was reported by Day 2. Conclusion: In this dataset, the reported early outcomes numerically favoured the patched group, which had a smaller residual epithelial defect and lower reported proportions of pain, watering/photophobia and foreign-body sensation at 18–24 hours. Both groups reportedly achieved complete healing by Day 2. These findings support further evaluation of short-term comfort and early healing with patching in selected uncomplicated cases. Because exact counts, inferential statistics and identical co-interventions were not available, the results should be interpreted as descriptive rather than proof of a causal or statistically significant effect.

Keywords: Corneal metallic foreign body, corneal abrasion, eye patching, epithelial healing, ocular trauma, pain, photophobia.