Corneal injury and its protection using hydro-gel patch during general anesthesia.

AIM To evaluate corneal injury during general anesthesia and analyze the protective effect of medical hydro-gel eye patch in clinics. METHODS Seventy-six patients with 152 eyes undergoing general anesthesia were included. None had positive corneal fluorescein staining before surgery. Both eyes of each patient were analyzed, with one randomly allocated to receive medical hydro-gel eye patch, and the other to receive common adhesive tape as a control. Corneal injuries were evaluated by scoring fluorescein staining under a hand-held slit lamp immediately after surgery in postanesthesia care unit and 24h thereafter. Patients' discomforts were also evaluated. RESULTS Twelve eyes (15.8%) in the hydro-gel patch group and 30 eyes (39.5%) in the adhesive tape group showed corneal injury immediately after surgery. The eyes protected with hydro-gel patch showed statistically less corneal fluorescein staining than the control group. Four eyes in hydro-gel patch group and 6 eyes in adhesive tape group suffered discomfort immediately after surgery without intergroup difference and all discomforts disappeared after 24h (P=0.257). No side effect was observed in hydro-gel patch group, while 5 eyes had brow avulsion and 2 got skin itching in adhesive tape group. CONCLUSION Corneal injury complication was more frequent than we thought following general anesthesia. The medical hydro-gel eye patch can protect the occurrence of corneal injury following general anesthesia.