Contact Lenses And Kids May Not Mix

Researchers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a new report Monday in the journal Pediatrics about the various difficulties that children and teenagers have when using their contact lenses.

The FDA discovered that more than 70,000 children and teenagers make a visit to the emergency room as a result of contact lenses each year. Classified as medical devices, contact lenses are the leading cause of medical device complications in children and teenagers. Of the emergency room incidents where a medical device was the cause of injury, contact lenses were the offender nearly 25 percent of the time.

The FDA’s study consisted of two years’ worth of data on emergency room visits, with roughly 145,000 of the visits consisting of children and teenagers suffering an injury from a medical device. Around half of the visits involved an older adolescent aged 16 to 21 years old. The study tracked emergency room visits where children and teenagers from birth to 21 years of age were the primary subject of the visit.

The various injuries reported from contact lenses include eye infections and abrasions from foreign particulates caught beneath the contact lenses. The FDA researchers suggest that more careful screening of children and teenagers who are interested in wearing contact lenses is necessary. Simple upkeep measures could reduce a considerable number of the injuries, such as maintaining the contact lenses properly, not wearing them excessively and remembering to replace them promptly.

The study concluded that other medical devices frequently involved in children and teenager emergency room visits were eyeglasses, hypodermic needles, scooters, and wheelchairs.

The FDA researchers concluded that children, teenagers and the medical personnel involved in their care could all do more to avoid preventable injuries. Keeping greater scrutiny upon the medical devices most likely to cause injury was also suggested.