Safety of anterior chamber paracentesis using a 30-gauge needle integrated with a specially designed disposable pipette.

Abstract

AIMS:

To investigate the safety of anterior chamber (AC) paracentesis using a 30-gauge needle integrated with a specially designed disposable pipette.

METHODS:

In this retrospective observational case-series study, AC paracentesis was performed on 301 eyes of 301 patients between September 2009 and August 2016 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and the Baptist Eye Institute, Kyoto, Japan. AC paracentesis was performed with the patient placed in the supine position using a 30-gauge needle integrated with a disposable pipette with one hand, and the safety post procedure was then evaluated.

RESULTS:

The indications for AC paracentesis were virus detection (ie, corneal endotheliitis, anterior infectious uveitis, cytomegalovirus retinitis and acute retinal necrosis) in 264 eyes, bacterial detection (ie, endophthalmitis) in 8 eyes and malignancy (ie, primary intraocular lymphoma, leukaemia and retinoblastoma) in 29 eyes. No serious complications such as infection, hyphema, lens trauma or severe inflammation including hypopyon and AC fibrin formation were observed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our findings show that AC paracentesis with a disposable pipette is safe with no severe complications.

• Authors: Koji Kitazawa, Chie Sotozono, Noriko Koizumi, Kenji Nagata, Tsutomu Inatomi, Hiroshi Sasaki, Shigeru Kinoshita
• Journal: The British journal of ophthalmology (Br J Ophthalmol) Vol. 101 Issue 5 Pg. 548-550 (May 2017) ISSN: 1468-2079 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 28100481 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)
• Copyright: Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Anterior Chamber (surgery)
• Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological (adverse effects, instrumentation)
• Disposable Equipment
• Eye Diseases (diagnosis)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Needles
• Paracentesis (adverse effects, instrumentation)
• Postoperative Complications
• Retrospective Studies
• Uveitis (diagnosis)