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Tap water shortens healing period of alkali burns, study shows

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Immediate, ample eye irrigation with tap water following contact with alkali will reduce the severity of an alkali burn and shorten the overall healing period, according to one study.

Nariko Ikeda, MD, PhD, of Itoigawa General Hospital in Japan, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed information regarding injuries and ocular findings from each patient’s records to determine the effect of immediate irrigation on an ocular alkali burn. Of the selected patients, 36 irrigated their eyes with tap water immediately following ocular contact with alkali, while 17 patients did not.

“According to Hugher’s classification, 76% of eyes in the irrigation group had grade 1 injury, while 86% of eyes in the no irrigation group had grade 2 injuries,” the researchers said.

The average length of time spanning from the initial burn until the healing process was 8 days for those in the irrigation group. Those in the no-irrigation group, however, had an average of 29 days of healing.

This study was published in Ophthalmologica.