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INTRODUCTION: The most common eye injury during and after general anesthesia is corneal abrasion which can occur at any time after anesthesia and even up to 24 h after it. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and factors associated with corneal injury in patients undergoing nonocular surgery. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 170 patients, who were admitted to the operating room and met the inclusion criteria, were selected through simple nonprobability sampling. Data collection forms were used in order to assess the incidence of corneal injury and its related risk factors. The National Eye Institute scale with fluorescein paper and cobalt blue light by slit lamp were utilized to examine exposure keratopathy. RESULTS: Overall, the results showed that the incidence of keratopathy immediately after eye care removal was found to be 64.7% in the operating room, 65.9% in the recovery room, and 41.2% in 24 h after the surgery. Smokers' patients and drug abusers under general anesthesia underwent endotracheal intubation, received more opioids preoperatively, and had more perioperative bleeding and fluid intake. Moreover, in patients who had received more oxygen flow in the recovery room; the rate of keratopathy was higher. CONCLUSION: Smoking, drug usage, and receiving endotracheal intubation are the risk factors of keratopathy. Therefore, for high-risk patients and procedures, it is indispensable to both obtain preoperative information and take intraoperative precautions in order to prevent eye injuries. Future studies are needed to demonstrate these finding.
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BACKGROUND: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) have impaired ocular protective mechanisms that lead to an increased risk of ocular surface diseases including exposure keratopathy (EK). This study was designed to evaluate the effect of normal saline (NS) on the incidence and severity of EK in critically ill patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on 50 patients admitted to ICUs. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. One eye of each patient, randomly was allocated to intervention group (standard care with NS) and the other eye to control group (standard care). In each patient, one eye (control group) randomly received standard care and the other eye (intervention group) received NS every 6 h in addition to standard care. The presence and severity of keratopathy was assessed daily until day 7 of hospitalization using fluorescein and an ophthalmoscope with cobalt blue filter. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis in SPSS software. RESULTS: Before the study ( first day) there were no statistically significant differences in the incidence and severity of EK between groups. Although, the incidence and severity of EK after the study (7th day) was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group, their differences were not statistically significant. Although, the incidence and severity of EK, from the 1st day until the 7th, increased within both groups, this increase was statistically significant only in the intervention (NS) group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of NS as eye care in patients hospitalized in ICUs can increase the incidence and severity of EK and is not recommended.