ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE, PREDISPOSING FACTORS, ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF CORNEAL ULCER PATIENTS

Abstract

A corneal ulcer is a painful open sore on the cornea that can cause loss of vision and even blindness. The aim the study is to assess the prevalence, predisposing factors, etiology and treatment of corneal ulcer patients. 100 patients with corneal ulcer were included in the study. A detailed history with socio-demographic information, presenting complaints, predisposing factors, associated risk factors followed by drug therapy was noted carefully. Gender wise distribution showed that males (61%) were mostly affected by corneal ulcer as compared to females (39%). Occupation wise distribution showed that farmers (38%) were affected more as compared to others. Most commonly affected age group was between 41-60 years and majority of affected people were from rural areas (75%). Based on severity of the diseased condition, majority (39%) were diagnosed severe followed by mild (34%) to moderate (27%) among all corneal ulcer patients. The most common predisposing risk factor found for corneal ulcer was ocular trauma (42%). Bacterial infections (44%) were found more commonly than fungal infections (35%) and other causes. Antibiotics were mostly prescribed (44%) followed by traditional eye medicines (23%) and antifungal (16%) drugs. Such comprehensive studies are important to assess the specific epidemiological characteristics of corneal ulceration and are also necessary to define the magnitude of the problem in society, to design an efficient public health program for rapid referral, diagnosis, treatment, and to prevent corneal ulceration in the population at risk, especially in the developing nations.