Bio-amniotic membrane transplantation combined with anterior corneal stroma puncture for the treatment of recurrent corneal epithelial erosion syndrome

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of bio-amniotic membrane transplantation combined with anterior corneal stroma puncture in the treatment of recurrent corneal epithelial erosion syndrome. Methods A prospective randomized clinical study. The data of 32 eyes of 27 cases with recurrent corneal epithelial erosion syndrome were analyzed from Jan.2015 to Sep.2018 in the Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University. All cases were randomly divided into two groups. There were 16 eyes of 13 cases in amniotic membrane transplantation combined with anterior corneal stroma puncture group and 16 eyes of 14 cases in anterior corneal stroma puncture group. The efficacy of operation was evaluated. Results Postoperative pain scores in both groups were significantly lower than those before operation. The difference in pain scores was statistically significant between the two groups on 1 and 3 days after operation (t1=3.693, P=0.001, t3=2.725, P=0.011). The difference in pain scores was not statistically significant between the two groups on 5 days after operation (t5=1.054, P=0.300). There was no significant difference in recurrence rate between the two groups(P=0.151). Conclusion Bio-amniotic membrane transplantation combined with anterior corneal stroma puncture can effectively treat recurrent corneal epithelial erosion syndrome, which has the advantages of low recurrence rate and high comfort after operation. Key words: Transplantation, amniotic membrane; Puncture, anterior stroma, cornea; Erosion, epithelium, cornea