Abstract
Purpose :
To analyze the sharps injuries reported to the occupational health department (OHD) at the Phillips Eye Institute (PEI) from 1985 to 10/20/14.
Methods :
Deidentified data from sharps injuries reported to the OHD at PEI was analyzed. Risk management strategies were formulated.
Results :
There were 47 sharps injuries. Approx. 1/3 of the cases occurred off the surgical field, approx. 1/3 occurred on the surgical field by oneself and approx. 1/3 occurred on the surgical field while passing instruments between the surgeon and the scrub tech.
Conclusions :
Risk reduction strategies should include handling sharps using instruments eg. needle drivers, avoiding directly manipulating sharps by hand, placing sharps in a designated location on the surgical tray and avoiding direct passing of sharps between surgeon and scrub tech.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.