Research Article
Pattern of Sharps Injuries in Ophthalmic Practice
Ahmad Mohammad Alshihry*
Specialist Epidemiologist, Head of Epidemiology & Infection Control Department, Dhahran Eye Specialist Hospital (DESH), Saudi Arabia/td>
- *Corresponding Author:
- Ahmad Mohammad Alshihry
Specialist Epidemiologist
Head of Epidemiology & Infection Control Department
Dhahran Eye Specialist Hospital (DESH), Saudi Arabia
E-mail: [email protected]
Received date: April 07, 2013; Accepted date: July 15, 2013; Published date: July 17, 2013
Citation: Alshihry AM (2013) Pattern of Sharps Injuries in Ophthalmic Practice. Epidemiol 3:128. doi:10.4172/2161-1165.1000128
Copyright: © 2013 Alshihry AM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Sharps injuries are well known risk for health care workers in ophthalmology. The objective of this study is to describe the pattern of sharps injuries in ophthalmic practice. This 7 years prospective study revealed unique pattern of sharps injuries in ophthalmology. Forty-two HCWs were injured. Nurses sustained 50.0% of sharps injuries while technicians sustained 31% and doctors 19%. Theatre was the most common location for sharps injuries 54.8% followed by clinic 14.3% then wards and laboratory at 11.9% each.
