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Updated: Jan 29, 2026
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Published on: February 23, 2018
Chronic Conjunctivitis From a Retained Contact Lens
Jawad I Arshad1, Asma Saud, Darrell E White
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (J.I.A., A.S., and R.R.S.), Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Eye Institute, Cleveland, OH; Skyvision Centers (D.E.W.), Westlake, OH; and Division of Cornea and Refractive Surgery (N.A.A.), Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA.
Purpose:
To help clinicians diagnose and manage unilateral recalcitrant chronic bacterial conjunctivitis secondary to a retained soft contact lens and describe the first report of Gram-negative bacteria causing this condition.
Methods:
Chart review of successive cases presenting with unilateral chronic conjunctivitis with positive cultures and a retained contact lens.
Results:
Three cases were identified and described. Culturing of the retained contact lenses grew Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the first case, Achromobacter xylosoxidans in the second, and Staphylococcus epidermidis in the third. All three patients were successfully treated with removal of the retained lens and targeted antibiotic eyedrop therapy.
Conclusions:
Unilateral chronic recurrent or recalcitrant purulent papillary conjunctivitis is rare, and a retained contact lens should be suspected in patients with a history of wearing contact lenses. Careful examination with double eversion of the upper eyelid and sweeping of the fornices can recover the offending lens. Although only Gram-positive organisms have been isolated in previous reports, two of our three cultures grew Gram-negative organisms, highlighting the importance of broad-spectrum antibiotic usage for these cases.
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