Oxygen therapy for severe corneal alkali burn in rabbits.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of oxygen therapy in the treatment of severe corneal alkali injury in rabbits.


METHODS
In a double-blind experiment, 28 white New Zealand rabbits were randomized into an oxygen treatment group (n = 14) and a control group (n = 14). Under general anesthesia, severe corneal alkali injuries were induced by application of 1 N sodium hydroxide to the right eye of each rabbit. The oxygen treatment group was treated with oxygen 100% at a flow of 5 L/min for 1 hour daily for 1 month. Daily photographs were taken of the rabbits' eyes, and the sizes of the epithelial defect in the 2 groups were compared. The principal endpoint was descemetocele and perforation of the cornea. The animals were euthanized at the end of the study or earlier if corneal perforation had occurred, and the corneas were excised and fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin for histologic examination.


RESULTS
Experimentally induced severe eye burns gave similar opacity of the cornea in both groups. Three eyes in the oxygen group and 9 eyes in the control group developed descemetocele and perforation (P = 0.022). Mean time to beginning of ulceration was 13.45 days in the control group and 18.11 days in the oxygen treatment group (P = 0.032). There was no other significant difference between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Oxygen therapy at a flow of 5 L/min for 1 hour daily reduces the possibility of corneal perforation in rabbits and may delay ulceration of the cornea compared with the control group.
Sharifipour
Farideh
F
Department of Ophthalmology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. sharifpourf@yahoo.com
Zamani
Mitra
M
Idani
Esmaeil
E
Hemmati
Ali Asghar
AA
D000818:Animals; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000628:therapy*; D003318:Corneal Opacity / Q000628:therapy*; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005126:Eye Burns / Q000139:chemically induced*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011817:Rabbits; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D014945:Wound Healing
D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D010100:Oxygen