Management of corneal scarring secondary to explosion with excimer laser treatment

Abstract Background Improper use of pyrotechnics can result in ocular injuries producing severe vision loss. Case A 20-year-old man had a pyrotechnics device explode in his face, hospitalizing him for 4 days. He was told he needed a corneal transplant and that his vision would be impaired permanently. As an alternative, phototherapeutic keratectomy was performed on each eye to remove as much scar tissue as possible. Photorefractive keratectomy was then used to treat the residual hyperopia and remove more of the scarring. Conclusions The combination of phototherapeutic keratectomy/photorefractive keratectomy proved to be a safe and effective method to treat corneal scarring secondary to explosive trauma and to restore normal vision.