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Eye Irrigation
Aka: Eye Irrigation
- Indications
- Chemical Eye Injury
- Equipment
- pH paper
- Eye Irrigation fluid (Use best option that is immediately available)
- Preferred irrigants (liter bags - may require up to 10 liters)
- Normal Saline or
- Lactated Ringers
- Alternatives if preferred agents unavailable
- Sterile water
- Eyewash station or equivalent clean water supply
- Irrigation additives
- Consider placing 10-15 cc of 1% Lidocaine in the saline bag to maintain adequate topical Anesthesia during irrigation
- Irrigation device (any clean device that can direct irrigant flow to eye)
- Morgan Medi-Flow lens
- Intravenous tubing
- Nasal canula (attached to IV tubing)
- Can straddle the nasal bridge such that each nasal prong can be directed toward each eye
- Technique
- Pre-treat with Topical Eye Anesthetic (if available)
- Do not delay irrigation for contact removal
- Contacts can be removed after irrigation
- Immediate copious irrigation for at least 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes of irrigation, close eye for 5 minutes
- Test Eye pH (goal is neutral pH 7.0 to 7.3)
- Continue Eye Irrigation until Eye pH 7.0 to 7.3 (may require up to 10 liters of irrigant)
- If pH paper not available, irrigate for minimum of 2 liters irrigant over 30 minutes
- Adjunctive measures
- Consider sweeping medial and lateral canthus for crystallized chemical
- Use moist swab to remove debris from Conjunctival fornices
- May be speed neutralization of pH
- Precautions
- Never use acid or base to neutralize chemical burn
- Efficacy
- Eye Irrigation reduces risk of serious Eye Injury and dramatically reduces healing times
- Ikeda (2006) Ophthalmologica 220:225-8 [PubMed]