The impact of infectious ocular emergencies on hospital resources.
BACKGROUND
Infectious ocular emergencies cannot be pre-planned, need a more labour-intensive treatment and are often associated with prolonged hospitalisation. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of infectious ocular emergencies on hospital resources and identify changing trends over the last 10 years.


METHODS
In a retrospective chart review 13,587 inpatient records from 1998 to 2007 were analyzed for the reason for emergency hospitalization, treatment data, length of hospitalizations and economical impact.


RESULTS
341 cases of severe infectious ocular emergencies with the need for emergency hospitalization were identified. The annual incidence of such emergencies increased continuously and has more than doubled during the last 10 years (51 vs. 24 annual cases). Within the same period the average hospitalization time of all non-infectious patients decreased from 5.41 to 4.95 days while inpatient stay due to infectious ocular emergencies decreased from 10.13 to 8.18 days. The average nursing effort was 4.26 hours per day in the infectious group, while electively admitted patients had an average requirement for nursing time of only 2.92 hours per day.


CONCLUSIONS
The increase in infectious-related hospitalizations, their unpredictability and the need for a more intensive treatment regime have an increasing impact on hospital resources.
Lange
A P
AP
Department of Ophthalmology, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Bochmann
F
F
Schmid
M K
MK
Thiel
M A
MA
D015817:Eye Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009732:Nursing Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology