Eye splashes during invasive vascular procedures.

In recent years there has been an increased awareness among health care workers regarding possible risk of nosocomial transmission of blood borne pathogens. The aim of this study is to document the risk of contamination of radiologists' eyes during invasive vascular procedures. Radiologists performing these examinations were asked to wear glasses throughout. After each examination the glasses were inspected for droplets. 150 procedures were performed on 123 patients (M = 80, F = 43). 10 procedures (6.7%) resulted in splashes to glasses. In four of these cases the radiologist was not aware of the "eye splash" nor was there a spray event to account for it. Radiologists were aware of 13 spray events (8.7% of all procedures). There was a significantly increased risk of spray events and eye splashes during thrombolysis (chi 2 = 14.93, p < 0.001) and of spray events during angioplasty when compared with perfemoral arteriography (chi 2 = 8.816, p < 0.01). Procedures lasting longer than 30 min were associated with a significantly increased risk of spray events (chi 2 = 5.63, p < 0.02). Significantly more eye splashes were associated with more than two catheter changes (chi 2 = 8.912, p < 0.01). It is suggested that protective eye wear should be used routinely during invasive vascular procedures.