Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lens as a Vision-Sparing Tool in Children After Traumatic Corneal Laceration

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical value of rigid gas permeable contact lenses in children after traumatic corneal scarring. Methods: This comparative study included 15 children (age range: 5.7 to 14 years; mean +/- standard deviation = 9.4 +/- 2.9 years) with corneal scars and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of worse than 20/20, history of penetrating ocular trauma, and/or cataract extraction. All children were advised to wear spherical rigid gas permeable contact lenses for 6 months with a special regimen. Visual acuity was compared before and after fitting. The total and anterior surface aberrations of all children were measured using a corneal topographer before and after treatment. Results: There was a significant improvement in the BCVA after wearing rigid gas permeable contact lenses compared to spectacle visual acuity (P=.001). There was also significant improvement of the keratometric astigmatism (P=.001) and corneal aberrations such as higher order aberrations (P=.008), lower order aberrations, root mean square, and point spread function (P=.001). Conclusions: The optical performance of rigid gas permeable contact lenses has been demonstrated to be effective in the visual rehabilitation of children with traumatic corneal lacerations. Corneal topography was an objective tool for detecting optical disorders.