Intensive care unit contact lens care: Evaluating staff understanding and promoting patient safety

We would like to share lessons learned from a recent case.Following a brief admission to our intensive care unit (ICU) a patient with intentional overdose woke up after 2 days reporting eye pain due to a retained contact lens (CL).Specialist review ruled out corneal infection and injury, and the patient was discharged.Despite regular pupil checks, ICU Staff reported that they do not routinely screen for CLs and were unfamiliar with their management or care.Discussions with colleagues at different units suggested that this is a widespread issue, as they neither had any safeguards in place, nor implemented them after similar events.