New findings confirm the safety of bandage contact lenses, which play an important role in post-ocular surgery care as well as various ocular surface conditions. Photo: Lee Alward, MD. Click image to enlarge.

While severe adverse events following bandage contact lens wear are not uncommon, a recent analysis found that these issues were rarely the direct result of the lenses. This research, published in BMC Ophthalmology, supports the use of bandage lenses with professional supervision.

In this study, researchers identified patients who had been prescribed at least one bandage lens during the past 10 years. A computerized search was performed for the following adverse events: endophthalmitis, emergency keratoplasty and vision loss of at least two lines according to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS).

Investigators assessed whether or not each event was related to the bandage lens. Adverse events that occurred more than 100 days following the bandage lens prescription were not considered related to use of the lenses.

A total of 638 patients who had been pre­scribed at least one bandage contact lens between 2012 and 2022 were identified, and 267 adverse events were observed, 147 of which occurred 100 days after ban­dage lens prescription. Researchers manually reviewed the 120 adverse events that occurred within 100 days after bandage lens prescription. This included 18 events of endophthalmitis, 21 penetrating keratoplasties and 81 events of clinically sig­nificant vision loss (at least two ETDRS lines).

Data showed that only two episodes of endophthalmitis were directly linked to bandage lens wear, according to the study authors who reported that all other adverse events were the result of causative conditions that had already been present when the lens was inserted.

“These real-world data suggest that medically managed bandage lenses have an acceptable safety profile for sup­porting healing of complex corneal epithelium conditions and following ocular surgery,” the researchers noted in their paper.

“Our study provides much-needed data from daily clini­cal practice showing low risks of vision-threatening com­plications attributable to bandage lenses. These findings can reassure clinicians about using bandage lenses for indicated cases with appropriate monitoring and follow-up,” they concluded. “This information also helps support evidence-based guidelines and policy regarding bandage lens indications and best practices.”