An experimental study on the effect of collagen shields and therapeutic contact lenses on corneal wound healing

We evaluated the effects of collagen shields and therapeutic contact lenses on corneal wound healing in rabbits. A corneal wound was created by mechanical removal of the central 6-mm zone of the corneal epithelium and basement membrane in 30 eyes of 15 rabbits. The animals were divided into three groups: five rabbits in the first group were treated with a collagen shield in one eye and a therapeutic lens in the other eye. In the remaining two groups, either a collagen shield or a therapeutic lens was applied in one eye and the other eye served as the control. The radius and area of the wound were measured at 0, 6, 24, and 48 h after wounding. Linear regression analysis revealed a significant reduction in the wound area with time in all groups. The healing rate was found to be 0.52 +/- 0.08 mm2/h in the collagen shield, 0.54 +/- 0.05 mm2/h in the therapeutic lens, and 0.43 +/- 0.06 mm2/h in the control group. Comparison of the study groups by Bonferroni modification of analysis of variance revealed no statistically significant difference between the collagen shield and the therapeutic lens group at any time (p > 0.05), whereas a significantly larger wound size was observed in the control group compared with the treatment groups at all times studied (p < 0.05 at 6 h; p < 0.001 at 24 and 48 h). In conclusion, our results indicate that both collagen shields and therapeutic lenses enhance wound healing in rabbit eyes.