A rare case of mechanical conjunctivitis

Introduction. Mechanical conjunctivitis is a rare form of eye surface inflammatory condition. One of its types, a mucus fishing syndrome, leads to a chronic eye surface trauma.

Purpose. To review the available literature data on the mechanical conjunctivitis prevalence, and to describe the diagnosis and treatment methods of its rare type, the mucus fishing syndrome.

Materials and methods. The article describes the case of the mucus fishing syndrome development in a patient suffering from this type of mechanical conjunctivitis for about 3 years.

Results. The correct diagnosis was not established in our patient for a long period of time that is why an improper treatment had been prescribed, which led to complications and to the need for surgical treatment.

Conclusions. The prevalence of mechanical conjunctivitis is low, and in the available literature, there are only 4 publications on the topic. The mucus fishing syndrome should be treated in cooperation with a psychiatrist, since the usual use of topical reparative and lubricating therapy is not enough.