Abstract:Objective The aims of this study was to evaluate clinical curative effect of amniotic membrane transplantation combined with recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) in patients with corneal alkaline burns. Methods A total of 110 patients (110 eyes) with corneal alkaline burns treated in the hospital were enrolled between November 2022 and November 2021. After emergency treatment, they were divided into combined treatment group (55 eyes) and routine treatment group (55 eyes) by random number table method. The routine treatment group was given basic treatment (including rhEGF), while combined treatment group was given amniotic membrane transplantation on basis of routine treatment group. The clinical curative effect, healing time of corneal epithelium, best corrected visual acuity, VAS scores, corneal neovascularization area, break-up time, score of corneal opacity and levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6, hs-CRP, TNF-α) were observed. Results The total response rate of combined treatment group was significantly higher than that of routine treatment group [94.55% (52/55) vs 81.82% (45/55), P<0.05]. After treatment, healing time of corneal epithelium in combined treatment group was significantly shorter than that in routine treatment group (P<0.05), and VAS score was significantly lower than that in routine treatment group (P<0.05). The corneal neovascularization area in combined treatment group was significantly smaller than that in routine treatment group (P<0.05), break-up time was significantly longer than that in routine treatment group (P<0.05), and score of corneal opacity was significantly lower than that in routine treatment group (P<0.05). After treatment, levels of inflammatory factors in combined treatment group were significantly lower than those in routine treatment group (P<0.05). Conclusion The clinical application advantages of amniotic membrane transplantation combined with rhEGF is significant in patients with corneal alkaline burns, which can improve curative effect, accelerate wound healing, relieve pain, reduce corneal neovascularization, prolong break-up time, alleviate corneal opacity and reduce levels of inflammatory factors, with good clinical application value.
