The incidence of blood splash to the protective eyeglasses of the operator and the assistant during cesarean section.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of blood splash to the eyes of obstetricians during Cesarean section. By systemic random sampling, 213 cases of all Cesarean sections that performed during the 6 months period at Siriraj Hospital were enrolled in the study. Before and after the operation, benzidine test of the swabs taken from 128 and 123 pairs of the protective eyeglasses wared by the assistants were used to determine the presence of blood contamination. The incidence of blood splash to the protective eyeglasses of the operators and the assistants were 56.3% and 25.2% while 52.8% and 70.9% of the contaminated protective eyeglasses were undetected by the operators and the assistants. The factors influencing the incidences were the indications and the urgency of the operations. Because of the high rats of blood splash during cesarean section, obstetricians should were protective eyeglasses during the operation to minimize the risk of exposure to potentially infectious blood.