ESCRS - PO010 - BELTING SUTURE FOR OPTIC ZONE COMBINED WITH STITCHED SUTURES FOR PARACENTRAL CORNEAL INJURY

BELTING SUTURE FOR OPTIC ZONE COMBINED WITH STITCHED SUTURES FOR PARACENTRAL CORNEAL INJURY

Published 2026 - 30th ESCRS Winter Meeting

Reference: PO010 | Type: Case Report | DOI: 10.82333/1dcg-5065

Authors: Asatur N Hovsepyan* 1

1AECP,Yerevan,Armenia;S.V.Malayan's Eye Center,Yerevan,Armenia

Purpose

To present an efficiacy of combination of stitched suture with belting suture as well as wearing of a soft contact lens during the early post-op period for corneal wound healing without optical zone iatrogenous damage by needle's trace-opacifications and fast spherical reshaping of the corneal scar.

Setting

The Mobile Eye Hospital (MEH) of the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP), Armenia

Report of case

А 26 y.o. male asked in 22.06.2022 for medical help to MEH several hours after right eye injury caused by a pebble flying off from a lawn mower.

VA was 20/200 pH 20/100, IOP T-1 (palpatory). An oblique deforming penetrating wound revealed in the inferior-temporal paracentral zone of the right eye cornea. There was no active bleeding in the eye, pupillary shape was normal. There was an aqueous humor leakage in time of blinking. The lens and the vitreous were clear. There was a mild contusion macular edema.

The wound repair surgery performed: а routine stitched-suturing technique was used for all edges of the wound except for the one adjacent to the optical zone, which required the tension force directed to the center of the cornea. The one belting suture was placed for that direction, and finally a gas-permeable soft contact lens was attached to the patient's eye for a week to reduce postoperative pain and some improvement of VA.

In several months the scar formation was going with geometrically nearly spherical shape of cornea, and moreover, the optical zone was remaining clear thanks to the belting suture which allowed to keep optical zone of the cornea free of trace opacifications caused by suturing needle. Finally, in April 2023 (10 months after trauma) the VA=20/40 reached a week after suture removal. Today, the patient doesn't want to come back for an exam with words: "I'm Ok, and have a good vision, I'm busy on my farm, pardon me...".

Conclusion / Take home message

The using of the combination of routine stitched-suturing technique with the belting suturing technique for optical zone in corneal wound repair with the final wearing of soft gas-permeable contact lens helps surgeons to reach the cornea's spherical shape restoration with less opacification within the optical axis, and finally good patient rehabilitation after deforming penetrating injuries of the cornea, there is no need for special instruments.