Surgeons were "shocked" to find 27 contact lenses in a woman's eye before performing an eye operation.

The 67-year-old was scheduled for cataract surgery when the operating team discovered a "blueish mass" of 17 contact lenses in her eye.

Upon further inspection at Solihull Hospital, England, the team found a further 10 individual lenses.

Rupal Morjaria, specialist trainee opthalmologist, told Optometry Today: "None of us have ever seen this before.

"It was such a large mass. All the 17 contact lenses were stuck together. 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."

Ms Morjaria said the patient, who had been wearing disposable contact lenses for 35 years, didn't report any symptoms in relation to the missing lenses in her pre-operative assessment.

"The patient was quite shocked. When she was seen two weeks after I removed the lenses she said her eyes felt a lot more comfortable. She thought her previous discomfort was just part of old age and dry eye."

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