Cornea
Recurrent Corneal Erosion
Also known as: RCE, waking corneal pain, recurrent epithelial defect
Filed as: Soon
Source-cited from the record's own evidence list. Clinical content programme led by Dr Ankit Mathur, PhD, Grad Cert Ocu Thera, B.S. Optom. How the clinical content is governed
Clinical decision support only
OptoGuide™ supports professional judgement and does not diagnose or replace clinician responsibility.
Overview
Recurrent epithelial breakdown causing acute pain, often on waking, usually after prior corneal trauma or epithelial basement membrane instability.
Recognition
Symptoms: what patients report
- Sudden waking pain
- Photophobia
- Tearing
Signs: what the examination shows
- Epithelial defect on staining
- Localised corneal tenderness
What OptoGuide™ covers for recurrent corneal erosion
- Pattern reasoning: what this combination of findings points to, and its differentiators
- Don't-miss risks and escalation triggers
- Management tiers with linked Australian therapeutics
- Referral urgency, specialty, and letter drafting
Sources
- Recurrent corneal epithelial erosion syndrome — College of Optometrists Clinical Management Guideline
- Anterior Eye Disease and Therapeutics A-Z (Bruce & Loughnan) — standard reference text
- Interventions for Recurrent Corneal Erosions. Watson SL, Leung V. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018;7:CD001861.
- Clinical Presentation and Causes of Recurrent Corneal Erosion Syndrome: Review of 100 Patients. Diez-Feijóo E, Grau AE, Abusleme EI, Durán JA. Cornea. 2014;33(6):571-5.
- Medical and surgical interventions for neurotrophic keratopathy. Kruoch Z, Choo AY, Kemp A, et al. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2025;12:CD015723.
Standard texts: Kanski's Clinical Ophthalmology: A Systematic Approach, The Wills Eye Manual, Oxford Handbook of Ophthalmology, Oxford American Handbook of Ophthalmology, Signs in Ophthalmology: Causes & Differential Diagnosis.