Eye Care- Modification in Standard Practice

Abstract

Transparent film dressing (TegadermTM, 3M) is commonly used to patch the eyes during surgery. Tegaderm is applied on the tarsal plate only to avoid depaliation of the eyelashes. Depaliation of the eyelashes can be distressing for patients and there are case reports where patients suffered immensely because of this[1Hariharan U Comprehensive eye care: A simple step toward a betteroutcome.J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2012; 28: 279Crossref PubMed Scopus (5) Google Scholar]. Patching the tarsal plate is not good enough for patients undergoing surgery in prone position and head andneck surgery. We therefore prefer to patch both the upper and lower eyelid in thesepatients with a modification in the tegaderm dressing before application. A portion of thin transparent polyvinylchloride sheet of the size of approximately 1cmx 4cm is applied over centre of the adhesive surface of the tegaderm. Hence, we create a adhesive free area on the adhesive surface of Tegaderm. This transparent dressing is applied carefully so that adhesive free area is covering the eyelashes and hence avoiding any contact with the adhesive. By doing this modification, we acheieve better protection of the eyes for surgeries in prone position and head and neck surgery. Moreover, we can observe the eyes through the eye patch for the perfect closure. Authors: Preety M Roy, Sudha Sinha, Sushma Barde, Sangeeta Khanna, Yatin Mehta. Institute of Critical Care and Anesthesiology Medanta the Medicity, Gurgaon, India. Email: [email protected] Conflict of Interest: