Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Risk Factors for the Development of Inpatient Exposure Keratitis

Brian Lehpamer, Teddy Lyu, Karen Fernandez, Henry A. Futterman, Penny Asbell

Ophthalmology Research: An International Journal · pp. 344–351 · Published 20 Jun 2014

10.9734/OR/2014/10600

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the risk factors for inpatient exposure keratitis and make possible the development of improved educational tools for providers. Methods: Retrospective chart review of inpatient ophthalmology consults at a major New York City teaching hospital, identifying patients with exposure keratitis. Patients included were seen by the ophthalmology consult service over a 3 year period and had exposure keratitis severe enough to require active treatment. Results: The four most common risk factors were sedation and mechanical ventilation (22/61, 36%), facial nerve palsy (10/61, 16%), nocturnal lagophthalmos (7/61,11%) and cicatricial or post-surgical lid changes (5/61,8%).Inpatient location was identifiable in 59 cases. 31% (18/59) of cases came from the physical therapy and rehabilitation floors and 24% (14/59) from the intensive care units. There were significantly more exposure keratitis cases identified during the 1st Half of the Academic Year, July through December, (45/61,74%) than the 2nd Half of the Academic year, January through June. (16/61, 26%) [P=0.03]. Conclusions: Sedation and mechanical ventilation, facial nerve palsy, nocturnal lagophthalmos, and cicatricial or post-surgical lid changes are the most common risk factors for inpatient exposure keratitis. Further study of the role of the primary team in preventing exposure keratitis is needed, and comprehensive efforts should be undertaken to reduce the incidence of this disease.

Exposure keratitis corneal opacification ophthalmology consult corneal perforation

References (13)

  1. 1 Eye care in the intensive care unit: Narrative review and meta-analysis [DOI]
  2. 2 Ophthalmic Management of Facial Nerve Palsy: A Review [DOI]
  3. 3 Ocular surface disease in intensive care unit patients [DOI]
  4. 4 A randomised controlled study of the effecacy of hypromellose and lacri-Lube combination versus polyethylene/clingwrap to prevent corneal epithelial breakdown in the semiconscious intensive care patient [DOI]
  5. 5 Scleral contact lens management of bilateral exposure and neurotrophic keratopathy [DOI]
  6. 6 Superficial Keratopathy in Intensive Care Unit Patients [DOI]
  7. 7 Moisture chamber versus lubrication for the prevention of corneal epithelial breakdown [DOI]
  8. 8 Bacterial keratitis in the critically ill [DOI]
  9. 9 Preventing exposure keratopathy in the critically ill: a prospective study comparing eye care regimes [DOI]
  10. 10 Cicatricial, postburn ectropion and exposure keratitis [DOI]
  11. 11 Eye infections caused by respiratory pathogens in mechanically ventilated patients [DOI]
  12. 12 Corneal Exposure During Sleep (Nocturnal Lagophthalmos) [DOI]
  13. 13 Atypical Pseudomonas Corneal Ulcers in Semicomatose Patients [DOI]

Cited by 0

No indexed citations yet.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

62

Page views

0

PDF downloads

44

Outbound clicks

0

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.