BOSP is a successful treatment option for severe periorbital thermal injuries

Using the Boston Ocular Surface Prosthesis (BOSP) on patients with severe periorbtial thermal injuries is a rehabilitating and successful treatment option, claims a paper published in Ophthalmology.

Dr Kevin Kalwerisky et al., San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium, Texas, USA, conducted a retrospective, interventional case series on 16 eyes of 10 consecutive patients with periorbital thermal injuries. All patients had been treated with the Boston Ocular Surface Prosthesis (BOSP) prior to the investigation. This is an FDA-approved gas-permeable, scleral contact lens.

All patients obtained their injuries through combat mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and were treated for exposure to keratopathy and the BOSP. The main outcome measures included corneal epithelial defect healing, uncorrected visual acuity, best-corrected visual acuity and BOSP wear-time.

After chronic ocular exposure all patients developed vision-threatening ocular surface disease. BOSP enables the rehabilitation of the ocular surface. Of the 16 eyes studied, 10 presented with a corrected visual acuity of 20/70 or better and a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better was achieved in 5 eyes.

Corneal ulcers were safely and successfully treated in 6 eyes by using the BOSP as a drug delivery vehicle. Only one eye required penetrating keratoplasty, but this was due to direct sequelae of the initial thermal burn.