The Use of a Disposable Paper Caliper to Determine the Area of Intravitreal Injection at Songklanagarind Hospital

Abstract

This descriptive study aimed to assess the use of disposable paper caliper to determine the area of intravitreal injection and to measure the level of satisfaction on using disposable paper caliper. The sample comprised 266 patients with age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema or cytomegalovirus retinitis requiring intravitreal injection at the operating theater, Songklanagarind Hospital. There were 137 Bevacizumab (Avastin®) intravitreal injections, 72 Ranibizumab (Lucentis®) intravitreal injections and 57 Ganciclovir intravitreal injections during the period from May to August 2110. The study instruments consisted of two parts: 1) a data form for recording demographics, treatment, and complications during and after intravitreal injection at 1 week and 1 month, and 2) a questionnaire on level of satisfaction of 10 ophthalmologists and 14 operating room nurses were validated by five experts, yielding CVI of 0.90 respectively. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.

The results of this study demonstrated that (1) the disposable paper caliper can be used instead of metal caliper without complication of subconjunctival hemorrhage, vitreous hemorrhage, lens injury or injection in the wrong position during surgery and with no complications of infection, retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage or cataract after 1 week and 1 month of intravitreal injection; (2) ophthalmologists and operating room nurses have a high level of satisfaction with using the disposable paper caliper.