Solutions for Difficult Problems:Eye Irrigation — Morgan Lens No More! Part 2

We promised you short, sweet, and simple solutions, and we plan to deliver. Many of the tools we want you to use may have merely been forgotten. The steps to complete these simple solutions will require just a few minutes of brushing up on the basics while watching our how-to videos and reading our step-by-step blog posts.One of the lengthiest procedures in the emergency department can be eye irrigation. Some patients may need 5-15 liters of normal saline flush, which can take hours. Alkaline products need ample flushing and constant reevaluation with pH checks to avoid ocular burns. Patients can get frustrated and often times will ask you to stop the procedure. Keeping up with an eye irrigation patient can be difficult for providers as well, and create a long stay.This patient suffered from alkaline burns to both eyes. He is being treated with normal saline irrigation using a nasal cannula. Photo by Martha Roberts.Many providers have traditionally used the Morgan Lens in the ED to assist in ocular irrigation. The process is time-consuming and sometimes painful, and it can cause corneal abrasions. Patients, especially children, have difficulty tolerating the lens. Insertion can be agonizing if proper anesthesia is not obtained. Depending on the patient, the lens may need to be replaced several times if there are multiple liters of irrigation. Many urgent care facilities and some EDs may not stock the Morgan Lens and need an alternative approach to treatment. Finally, the Morg...
Source: The Procedural Pause - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs