Prosthetic rehabilitation of a serving soldier with custom made ocular prosthesis

Abstract

Eyes are the prominent organs of the facial structure and first feature to be noticed during interactions. Loss of an eye can be because of various reasons like congenital defects, traumatic injury, road traffic accidents, gun shot wounds, or malignant tumors.1 Gun shot wounds or blast injuries are the most common causes for the loss of eyes in armed forces personnel. The disfigurement associated with the loss of an eye can cause significant physical, psychological and emotional problems.2 Prosthetic rehabilitation of such patients with ocular prosthesis will improve patient's quality of life and increase their confidence. This kind of rehabilitation is more challenging because we try to replace mobile ocular tissue with a non-mobile prosthesis. Ocular prostheses are either ready-made or custom made. Ready-made ocular prosthesis does not fit properly to the ocular bed and movement of the prosthesis does not correspond to the movement of the ocular bed. The close adaptation of the ocular prosthesis to the soft tissues of the ocular bed enhances comfort of the patient and results in physiological movement of prosthesis corresponding to the movement of the ocular bed. Intimate contact of the prosthesis to the ocular bed prevents the collection of the mucus and debris below the prosthesis. This kind of contact of the prosthesis with the ocular bed can be achieved only with the custom ocular prosthesis.3 A clinical report of a serving soldier who had sustained gun shot wound in counter insurgency operation, rehabilitated with custom made ocular prosthesis is presented. The improvised technique of fabrication of the prosthesis using addition silicone elastomeric impression material is also described.