Therapeutic extended-wear bandage contact lenses are used to protect the eye, ease pain and help in the healing process. A new study in Contact Lens Anterior Eye suggests temporary removal of these bandage lenses might be unnecessary to get accurate intraocular pressure (IOP) tonometry readings.

Researchers from the Philippines enrolled 151 normal eyes in the study. Using rebound tonometry (iCare Pro), investigators measured IOP on “naked” eyes and again after patients were fit with extended-wear bandage contact lenses. The lenses had a Dk/t of 175 at -3.00D.

The investigators found the IOP readings were about the same with and without the lenses (13.74±2.15mmHg vs. 13.77±2.26mmHg).

“Based on this study conducted on normal eyes, the removal of extended-wear bandage contact lenses is not necessary when taking intraocular pressure measurements using the iCare Pro rebound tonometer,” the researchers wrote in their paper.