CHANGES IN THE CORNEAL TEMPERATURE BY 2 D IFFERENT BANDAGES

Background:The corneal temperature is not often measured, but it may b e useful to evaluate the temperature-changing effect of the applicatio n of eye bandages. The reason for applying an eye bandage is to calm a n inflamed eye and to provide mechanical protection. Everyone knows th at some patients have more complaints after an eye bandage has been ap plied. This phenomenon might be caused by the inflamed eye being warme d up by bandage application. Materials and methods: In 40 apparently h ealthy subjects 24+/-1.93 years of age we examined the temperature cha nges caused by two different types of eye bandage. The measurements we re done with a Jeol infrared camera. Twenty probands received a monocu lar bandage consisting of a perforated plastic cap and another 20 subj ects a monocular mull bandage with a perforated plastic cap. Results:T he mean corneal apex temperature was 32.05+/-0.74 degrees C. Both band ages caused the corneal temperature to go up considerably. The perfora ted plastic cap increased the mean apex temperature by 0.58+/-0.48 deg rees K and the combined mull bandage by 1.15+/-0.57 degrees K (P<0.05) . Conclusions: Application of an eye bandage increases the corneal tem perature significantly. This is known to change enzyme activities and to cause prostaglandin liberation and pain. A change in the bacterial spectrum may result. Cooling as a universal principle in antiphlogisti c therapy might be a supplementary therapy in treating sterile, but in flamed eyes.