Aim
The aim of this article is to track and analyze the effects of therapeutic soft and rigid contact lenses used pre-, intra- and postoperatively
Method
Therapeutic contact lenses were applied to 67 eyes in 56 patients. An assessment of subjective symptoms was made pre- and postoperatively regarding pain, foreign body sensation, tearing, and objective symptomatology including visual improvements and corneal architecture. Patients were divided into two groups with respect to the type of contact lenses - 47 patients with soft TCL (therapeutic contact lens) and 9 patients with rigid TCL (mini-scleral contact lenses 15 mm in diameter).
Results
In terms of comfort and tolerance, 100% of the patients reported pain reduction and a subjective improvement regarding different levels of discomfort. In 32 patients the vision has improved by 0.1-0.2 and structural reconstruction of the anterior ocular surface was diagnosed in 70% of the patients. Furthermore, an improvement in quality of life was reported by 89% of the treated patients.
Conclusion
The study demonstrates that therapeutic contact lenses have significant benefits. For the time being, application of TCL in Bulgaria is mainly limited to soft, silicon-hydrogel contact lenses. A current study has highlighted the advantages of implementing mini-scleral lenses especially in cases with poor prognosis
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