Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to treat hyphema by using reverse ion introductio to extract iron from anterior chamber of the rabbit cornea. Methods 24 rabbits were randomly divided into three groups, with 8 rabbits in each group. The 8 rabbits in group I were not modeled as the blank control group; The anterior chamber blood model was fabricated in the right eyes of 16 rabbits, and after modeling, they were randomly divided into two groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ with 8 eyes in each group. The group Ⅱ was called model control group, which was given 0 ma current intensity reverse iontophoresis treatment to observe the natural changes of anterior chamber blood volume; The group Ⅲ was treated by transcorneal reverse iontophoresis technique at a current intensity of 0.4 Ma once daily for 15 min for seven days. The absorption velocity of the anterior chamber blood was observed by slit lamp microscopy, the concentration of iron ions in the aqueous humor of each group was measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, and the pathological changes of the cornea were observed by histological examination. Results The iron concentration in aqueous humor was greatly increased in the modeling group compared with control group, but it was greatly reduced by reverse iontophoresis treatment. Histological examination indicated that inflammatory cell infiltration and iron deposition in the RI treatment group were significantly less than the modeling group. Conclusions Reverse iontophoresis in cornea is a non-invasive and promising approach to extract iron from the anterior chamber to treat hyphema.

Key words: reverse iontophoresis, hyphema, iron