Doctors remove 27 contact lenses from woman during cataract surgery

Are you taking proper care of your contact lenses? One woman didn't, and her doctors reported removing 27 lenses from her eye during cataract surgery. Are you taking proper care of your contact lenses? One woman didn't, and her doctors reported removing 27 lenses from her eye during cataract surgery. Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Doctors remove 27 contact lenses from woman during cataract surgery 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

A woman initially scheduled for cataract surgery was surprised when doctors told her they found 27 contact lenses in her eye.

The cataract surgery was considered a routine medical procedure, but it quickly turned unusual when doctors found a "bluish foreign mass" that turned out to be 17 contact lenses bound together in the 67-year-old British woman's eye, NPR reported.

A trainee involved with the case told the site Optometry Today the patient had not previously complained of any problems relating to her contact lenses.

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"It was such a large mass — all the 17 contact lenses were stuck together," said Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee ophthalmologist. "We were really surprised that the patient didn't notice it because it would cause quite a lot of irritation while it was sitting there."

Under further examination with a microscope, a surgeon found 10 more contact lenses in the woman's eye, ophthalmologists reported in an article published in The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) in early July.

The surgery was postponed out of fear of bacteria from the lenses causing complications. The woman's ophthalmologists reported the woman's "poorer vision in the right eye and deep set eyes" may have led to her leaving so many lenses in her eye.

The cataract surgery — and subsequent discovery of the contact lenses — was scheduled for November of last year, and the woman told doctors that she initially thought her vision was uncomfortable due to old age and dry eye in her follow-up. Morjaria said the woman had been wearing monthly disposable contact lenses for 35 years and was "shocked" at the discovery.

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The woman has since said her eye "felt a lot more comfortable," Morjaria said.

Morjaria said the doctors wanted to publicize the case in order to highlight the need for patients to have their eyes checked by a professional on a regular basis — the patient admitted to not going in for regular optometrist appointments.