Eye Marking and Time-Out
Before surgery, a designated member of the surgical team, typically the surgeon, uses marking pens or stickers to identify the operative eye to prevent errors in surgical site (eg, wrong eye). Depending on the surgical drape being used, the mark may be placed on the cheek or under the eyebrow, rather than on the forehead. In this way, the surgeon can see the identifying mark immediately before placing the surgical drape.
A “time-out” is an opportunity for the surgeon and the rest of the operating room team, including the anesthesiologist and nursing staff, to ensure that they are prepared for the correct surgical procedure on the correct eye with the correct implant. Information typically reviewed during the time-out includes patient name, patient date of birth, procedure, operative eye, and type and power of the intraocular lens (IOL). When 2 patients share the same name, use of 2 patient identifiers (eg, name and date of birth) helps prevent errors.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 11 - Lens and Cataract. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.