title: Eye injuries associated with anesthesia. A closed claims analysis.
abstract: Claims against anesthesiologists for eye injuries were analyzed as part of the ASA Closed Claims Project. Eye injury occurred in 3% of all claims in the database (71 of 2,046). The payment frequency for eye injury claims was higher than that for non-eye injury claims (70% vs. 56%; P less than or equal to 0.05). The median cost of eye injury claims was less than that for other claims ($24,000 vs. $95,000; P less than or equal to 0.01). Two distinct subsets were identified. The first was characterized by corneal abrasion during general anesthesia (25 of 71 claims; 35%). Claims for corneal abrasion were characterized by low incidence of permanent injury (16%) and low median payment ($3,000). Reviewers were able to identify a mechanism of injury in only 20% of claims for corneal abrasion. The second subset of eye injury was characterized by patient movement during ophthalmologic surgery (21 of 71; 30%). Blindness was the outcome in all cases. Sixteen of the claims involving movement occurred during general anesthesia, and 5 occurred during monitored anesthesia care. The median payment for claim involving movement was 10 times greater than for non-movement claims ($90,000 vs. $9,000; P less than or equal to 0.01). Anesthesiologist reviewers deemed the care rendered in the general anesthesia "movement" claims as meeting standards in only 19% of claims. From the perspective of patient safety, as well as risk management, these data suggest two specific needs: research directed at better understanding of the etiology of corneal abrasion and clinical strategies designed to assure patient immobility during ophthalmic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Gild
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Posner
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Cheney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D007351:Insurance, Liability / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008318:Malpractice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology