Incidence and related factors of surface eye disorders in traumatic intensive care unit patients in Iran.

Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are exposed to several surface eye disorders ranged from minor complications like corneal dryness to more serious ones such as corneal perforation and blindness. This study is then to assess the incidence of the ocular complications and related factors.

Materials and methods: During a prospective cross sectional study in a general adult ICU, ocular complications of the patients were assessed by an ophthalmologist. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. A P-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Out of 155 patients, 130 cases (260 eyes) were covered during the study period, 2016-2017. The most common complications among the patients included dry eye and corneal abrasion (25.8%) followed by conjunctivitis (25%). The mean time of occurrence for dryness and corneal abrasion was 4±2.93 days after admission to the ICU. Lower Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and longer hospital stay were significantly associated with ocular complications in the ICU (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Eye surface complications are commonplace in critically ill patients admitted in the ICU. Dry eye, corneal abrasion, and conjunctivitis have been revealed as the most prevalent complications in this study. Lower GCS and longer stay in the ICU predisposed the cases to these complications. Efficient eye care protocol and training the ICU staff are both recommended to reduce complication rates as such.