Contamination of multi dose eyedrops in the intra and perioperative context

Tristan Daehn,Robert Kromer,Olaf J C Hellwinkel,Martin Stephan Spitzer,Johannes Knobloch,Andreas Schneider

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-99892-8

Tristan Daehn, Robert Kromer + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99892-8

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Abstract

In this study, we examined the rate of contamination of multi-dose ophthalmic solutions in the operating theatre and the underlying risk for infection by examining the microbiological load on the tips of the dispenser bottles. A total of 245 samples of eye drop bottles were collected and analysed between June 2018 and January 2019. All were collected in the operating theatre of the University Eye Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. Contamination of the dropper tip occurred in 2% of the samples. Although the prevalence of contamination was low, the results of this study reveal the possibility of contamination of multi-dose eyedrops even when used by health care professionals in the controlled environment of an operating theatre. Following these results, we recommend the use of single-dose eyedrops in the pre- and intraoperative context.

Highlights

In this study, we examined the rate of contamination of multi-dose ophthalmic solutions in the operating theatre and the underlying risk for infection by examining the microbiological load on the tips of the dispenser bottles
Postoperative endophthalmitis accounts for 40% to 80% of endophthalmitis cases seen at centres in Brazil, England, Israel, Iran, India, Australia, and South Korea[2,3]
Nentwich et al studied the contamination of ophthalmic solutions in different environments inside an ophthalmology clinic but was not able to detect contamination of ophthalmic solutions inside the operating theatre using a limited sample size, while Teuchner et al detected a small amount of contamination[5,15]

Summary

Introduction

We examined the rate of contamination of multi-dose ophthalmic solutions in the operating theatre and the underlying risk for infection by examining the microbiological load on the tips of the dispenser bottles. The prevalence of contamination was low, the results of this study reveal the possibility of contamination of multi-dose eyedrops even when used by health care professionals in the controlled environment of an operating theatre. Following these results, we recommend the use of single-dose eyedrops in the pre- and intraoperative context. This study aimed to address the above-mentioned uncertainty of potential contamination of multi-dose ophthalmic solutions in the operating theatre and the underlying risk for infections by examining the microbiological load on the tips of the dispenser bottles

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