Abstract:  Objective  To evaluate the effect of corneal micro drill for removing cornea iron foreign body. Design A retrospective comparative case series. Participants 3475 cases 3621 eyes with deep corneal iron foreign body were randomly divided into two groups, group A with 1730 cases 1758 eyes and group B with 1745 cases 1863 eyes. Methods For group A, traditional hypodermic needle was used to remove corneal foreign body, while in group B, self made corneal micro grinding drill was used. Main Outcome Measures Operation time, requiring second operation rate, corneal rust ring clearance time, corneal wound healing time, postoperative complications. Results The operation time and needing second operation rate in group A and B was 3.2±0.7 min and 1.1±0.2 min, 50.11% and 0.81% respectively. Corneal rust ring clearance was 3.6±0.6 d and 1.1±0.3 d in group A and B respectively. Corneal wound healing time was 6.8±1.1 d and 3.3±0.8 d. Postoperative complication rate was 7.0% and 1.23%. The difference was significant (all P < 0.05). Conclusions  Corneal micro drill has a greater advantage than the traditional injection needle in the cornea iron foreign body treatment. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2014, 23: 332-334)

Key words: corneal micro drill, needle, corneal iron foreign body