The risk of eye splash in burn surgery

Although the incidence of eye splash injury has been assessed for a number of surgical specialities, such risks posed to the burn surgeon have not been previously quantified. During 100 consecutive procedures the operating burns team wore a clean set of goggles, counting the number of blood splashes on the goggles after each procedure. During this study there were 47 cases of potential eye splash injury, although the individual was only aware of 2 of these intra-operatively. Seven of the splashes involved more than 6 blood droplets on the goggles. The consultant burn surgeon was the most likely to be splashed, sustaining a potential injury in over half cases operated upon. Procedures greater than 45 min in length were more likely to result in a splash than those shorter than 45 min. We recommend that eye protection should be used either in the form of goggles or a visor and should encompass all burn theatre cases as a matter of policy.