Irrigation of the anterior chamber for the treatment of alkali burns.

A 31-year-old man had sodium hydroxide blown into his amblyopic left eye after an explosion caused by placing solid sodium hydroxide cleanser into a plugged drain. The eye was treated with topical and intraocular irrigation, and lactated Ringer's solution and the patient was given topical antibiotics, systemic and topical corticosteroids, and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Acetylcysteine drops were administered, and a contact lens was placed. The patient subsequently developed severe pain, hypopyon, and hyphema. The cornea was ulcerated and perforated 27 days after injury, and the eye was enucleated 70 days after injury.