EyeLocc™ in the Intensive Care Unit

Exposure keratopathy is a common problem in the Intensive Care Unit, especially in patients on artificial ventilation, under sedation or neuromuscular blocking agents. One study found that between 20-25% of patients admitted to ICU suffer from incomplete eye closure in the first week of their stay, a condition that has a very large association with the development of exposure keratopathy. In addition, they found that a total of 27.3% of ICU patients suffered from exposure keratopathy at some point during their ICU stay1.

Compications of corneal exposure and exposure keratopathy include microbial keratitis and corneal abrasions. Commonly used methods to treat and prevent exposure keratopathy in ICU patients include the use of tape or polyethylene film to prevent the eyes from drying out, as well as to create a moisture chamber to maintain the eye's moisture. This is usually done in conjuction with the use of drops or ointments to moisten the cornea and keep the epithelium from drying out and breaking down.

The EyeLocc™ is able to provide the benefits of both of these methods, by both keeping the eyes shut, as well as maintaining their moisture by preventing evaporation and air exposure. This makes it ideal to replace the use of tape on eyes in the ICU setting.

References

*Please note that many of these articles require a subsciption to be able to read them. Please contact us if you do not have access to the relevant databases and would like to read any of these articles.

1Kuruvilla, S, Peter, Jayanthi, David, Sarada, Premkumar, PS, Ramakrishna, K, Thomas, L, Vedakumar, M & Peter, JV 2014, 'Incidence and Risk Factor Evaluation of Exposure Keratopathy in Critically Ill Patients - A Cohort Study', Journal of Critical Care, Published online 22 October 2014, Read Article

2Derimer, S, Curucu, T, Firat, P, Aydogan, MS & Doganay, S 2014, 'Effective Management of Exposure Keratopathy Developed in Intensive Care Units: The Impact of an Evidence Based Eye Care Education Programme', Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 38-44, February 2014, Read Article

3Elliott, R & Marshall, A 2007, 'Provision of Eye Care for the Critically Ill Adult - NSW Health Statewide Guidelines for Intensive Care' NSW Health, Intensive Care Coordination and Monitoring Unit,Read Guideline

4Marshall, AP, Elliott, R, Rolls, K, Schacht, S & Boyle, M 2008, 'Eyecare in the Critically Ill: Clinical Practice Guideline', Australian Critical Care, vol. 21, issue, 2, pp. 97-109, Read Article

5Joyce, N 2002, 'Eye Care for the Intensive Care Patient: A Systematic Review', The Joanna Briggs Institute for Evidence Based Nursing and Midwifery, Systematic Review no. 21, Read Article

6Cunningham, C & Gould, D 1998, 'Eyecare for the Sedated Patient Undergoing Mechanical Ventilation: The Use of Evidence-Based Care', International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 35, pp. 32-40, Read Article

7So, HM, Lee, CCH, Leung, AKH, Lim, JMJA, Chan, CSC & Yan, WW 2008, 'Comparing the Effectiveness of Polyethylene Covers (Gladwrap™) with Lanolin (Duratears®) Eye Ointment to Prevent Corneal Abrasions in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study', International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 45, no. 11, pp. 1565-1571, Read Article

8Grixti, A, Sadri, M, Edgar, J & Datta, AV 2012, 'Common Ocular Surface Disroders in Patients in Intensive Care Units', The Ocular Surface, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 26-42, Read Article

9Kam, KYR, Hayes, M & Joshi, N 2011, 'Ocular Care and Complications in the Critically Ill', Trends in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, vol. 1, pp. 257-262, Read Article

10Sivasankar, S, Jasper, S, Simon, S, Jacob, P, John, G & Raju, R 2006, 'Eye Care in ICU', Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 11-14, Read Article

11Cortese, D, Capp, L & McKinley, S 1995, 'Moisture Chamber versus Lubrication for the Prevention of Corneal Epithelial Breakdown', American Journal of Critical Care, vol. 6, pp. 425-8, Read Article

12Ezra, DG, Lewis, G, Healy, M & Coombes, A 2005, 'Preventing Exposure Keratopathy in the Critically Ill: A Prospective Study Comparing Eye Care Regimes', British Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 89, no. 8, pp. 1068-1069, Read Article

13Shan, H & Min, D 2010, 'Prevention of Exposure Keratopathy in Intensive Care Unit', International Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 346-348, Read Article

14Koroloff, N, Boots, R, Lipman, J, Thomas, P, Rickard, C & Coyer, F 2004, 'A Randomised Controlled Study of the Efficacy of Hypromellose and Lacri-Lube Combination versus Polyethylene / Cling Wrap to Prevent Corneal Epithelial Breakdown in the Semiconscious Intensive Care Patient', Intensive Care Medicine, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 1122-1126, Read Article

15Lenart, SB & Garrity, JA 2000, 'Eye Care for Patients Receiving Neuromuscular Blocking Agents or Propofol During Mechanical Ventilation', American Journal of Critical Care, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 188-191, Read Article