Investigation of the effects of medical ozone on the treatment of experimentally induced corneal alkali burns in rabbits

The aim of this study is to clinically and histopathologically evaluate the efficiency of different applications of medical ozone on corneal healing in the treatment of experimentally induced corneal alkali burns with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in rabbits. For this purpose, a total of 32 New Zealand male rabbits were used in the study. To start with, 6 mm-diameter sized filter paper impregnated with 1 N NaOH was applied to the central cornea of only right eyes for 1 min. In none of the subjects, other ocular structures were affected by the alkaline agent. The rabbits were randomly divided into four groups. The day on which the alkali agent was formed was accepted as day 1. The treatment was started immediately after the alkali burn was formed. The first group was left as the control group (K) and was not applied medical ozone. The second group (M) was administered subconjunctival ozonated blood at three (3) day intervals. The third group (S) was given subconjunctival medical ozone at three (3) day intervals. The fourth group (O) was applied major autohemotherapy at three (3) day intervals. For clinical evaluation, on the days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 (in the morning) after the formation of alkali burn in the cornea, the Schirmer tear test, corneal opacity evaluation, and corneal erosion area measurement were made. At the end of the 21st day, the rabbits were sacrificed, extirpation of bulb oculi was performed, and tissue samples were taken in 10% formol solution. As a result of clinical evaluations, group M was statistically the best in terms of epithelial recovery, followed by group S and then group O. In the absence of any treatment, group K was the weakest group in terms of recovery. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of reepithelization. Yet, there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment groups and the control group in terms of opacity. At the end of the 21st day, group M opacification was slightly smaller than the other groups. In conclusion, histopathological findings appeared to be consistent with clinical findings. In the light of the clinical, statistical and histopathological findings, different application techniques of medical ozone treatment in corneal alkali burn were found to significantly reduce complications compared to the control group and accelerate corneal reepithelization. Keywords: Corneal Alkali Burn, Medical Ozone, Rabbit.