The Influence of Corneal Foreign Body on Eye Infection

Abstract

Background: A corneal foreign body is one of the main causes of blindness. The effects can range from mild infections (corneal abration, keratitis) to severe damage (endophthalmitis) depending on the type of material. Late-stage complications can cause permanent blindness. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of types of corneal foreign body material on the severity of eye infection. Methods: This study was a non-experimental research with analytic observational and crosssectional methods. Subjects were 30 patients. The samples were male and female patients (10-70 years old) who came to the eye clinic with a history of exposure to corneal foreign bodies of less than 8 days. The study was conducted by interviews and visual examination on the anterior segments of the eyes. The analysis used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Simple Linear Regression and Spearman tests). Results: There were several types of foreign body material that affected the cornea; gram iron (53.3%), plant branches (16.7%), animal wings (13.3%), sand (13.3%) and food (3,4 %). Most of these types of material caused corneal erosion (66.7%) and keratitis infections (33.3%). The incidence of corneal ulcers, endophthalmitis and panophthalmitis was not present in this study. Conclusion: There were no significant differences between the types of corneal foreign body material and the severity of eye infections. Keywords— corneal, foreign body, eye infection