Traumatic corneal ulcerative keratitis in dogs: treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Abstract

Corneal ulcerative keratitis is one of the most common causes of eye disease that causes loss of vision in dogs. Its etiology includes several types of trauma, inadequate lacrimal production, chemical lesions and eyelid defects, among others. The cornea is a non-vascularized, translucent structure, histologically composed of the epithelium, stroma, descemet membrane and endothelium. The depth that the lesion reaches between these layers will determine the degree of symptoms such as discomfort and ocular pain, photophobia, blepharospasm, ocular discharge, epiphora and loss of corneal transparency, culminating in anterior synechia, endophthalmitis, previous chamber collapse, glaucoma and atrophy of the ciliary body. The feasibility of tissue repair, the technique to be employed and the time provided for the recovery of the corneal tissue are closely linked to the number of layers involved; ranging from days to months. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an innovative therapy for small animals that are kept inside a hermetically sealed chamber with 100% controlled oxygen supply for previously established periods of time and subjected to pressure levels above atmospheric pressure. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has the potential to accelerate the wound healing process. The scarcity of reports on the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of corneal ulcers justifies the literary description of this clinical case, thus contributing to a greater clarification of aspects related to pathophysiology, diagnosis and new possibilities of treatment of this pathology in veterinary and human medicine. This paper reports the case of a three year old male Pug dog with traumatic corneal ulcerative keratitis treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, with fast and completes healing in 20 treatments.