Feasibility and Safety of Argon Cold Plasma Use as an Adjunctive Treatment for Corneal Disease in Dogs, Cats and Small Mammals: A Prospective Clinical Study.

ACP is safe and feasible for adjunctive corneal disease treatment in small animals.

This prospective clinical study evaluated argon cold plasma (ACP) as an adjunctive treatment for corneal diseases in 281 animals (263 dogs, 8 cats, 10 small mammals) comprising 303 eyes. Animals were treated with the kINPenVET device under topical anesthesia for various conditions including spontaneous chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCED, n=178), infected/infiltrated ulcers (n=76), keratomalacia (n=22), corneal perforation (n=20), and others. Treatment was well-tolerated with minimal stress (3.2%). Average treatments per eye was 3.45±1.74. Direct adverse reactions were rare: punctate opacities (1.3%) and blepharospasm (0.7%). Short-term adverse events included epithelial tears (4.0%), stromal infiltrates (2.3%), and keratomalacia (2.0%). Long-term follow-up averaged 173.1 days, with the most common adverse event being corneal fibrosis and pigmentation (4.0%), predominantly in dry eye cases. The authors conclude ACP is clinically feasible as an outpatient adjunctive therapy with acceptable safety profiles and minimal complications, easily integrable into standard treatment protocols.

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