Trick of the Trade: Recognizing eyedrop bottles by color

Have you ever wondered why prescription eyedrops have different color bottle caps? Did you know that the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has a policy to color-code topical ocular medication bottles caps?

Why was this needed?

“The Academy’s policy on color coding of eyedrop drug caps was prompted by reports to the Academy and the National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects of serious adverse events resulting from patient difficulty in distinguishing between various ocular medications. With input from the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Academy’s Committee on Drugs developed a uniform color-coding system.” — AAO policy statement

This totally makes sense. I would think the highest-risk population to mix up medications are those with vision problems. The colors help serve as an safeguard against error.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T18:41:10-08:00Feb 12, 2013|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Photograph slit lamp findings

How do you capture the image of the eye on slit lamp exam either for the patient or your ophthalmology consult? It’s often easier to show someone a photo rather than trying to describe that atypical dendritic lesion, degree of corneal edema, or pattern of corneal abrasion.

You, however, don’t have the expensive camera attachment (nor a SLR camera for that matter).

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T22:18:01-08:00Jul 24, 2012|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Fluorescein eyedrops

This is a guest post by Dr. Ian Brown (Stanford):

The Roberts textbook describes the procedure of corneal fluorescein staining as touching a moistened fluorescein strip to the cornea. Maybe it is an irrational fear of a paper cut to the sclera, or a fear of touching an already abraded cornea with the paper, but I try to find an alternative. I have seen physicians hold the eye open with one hand, hold the fluorescein with a second hand and then drip tetracaine on the paper and let it drip into the eye with a third hand. I, unfortunately, only have two hands.
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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T23:36:28-08:00Mar 27, 2012|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Videos: The EM Eye Exam

Thanks to Dr. David Duong and Dr. Najm Haqu (UCSF) for letting me cross-post their amazing instructional video on the “EM Eye Exam”. These videos were made for the purpose of teaching senior medical students on their UCSF-SFGH EM clerkship. I thought it’d be great to share these tutorials, since the eye exam is typically a daunting task for many medical students (and residents).

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T22:49:24-08:00May 12, 2011|Ophthalmology|

Trick of the Trade: Check pupillary constriction with ultrasound

In some trauma patients with head and face trauma, you will need to check their pupillary response to light. Severe periorbital and eyelid swelling, however, make this difficult. You want to minimize multiple attempts to retract the eyelids because of the risk of a ruptured globe. What’s a minimally painful and traumatic way to check for pupillary constriction?

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T22:50:28-08:00Apr 6, 2011|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade, Ultrasound|

Trick of the Trade: Benzoin for opening traumatic, swollen eyelids

Patients who sustain facial trauma often have swollen eyelids. They may be so swollen that it is impossible to pull back the eyelids for an ocular exam. You use one of our “Tricks of the Trade”ideas and attempt to “roll” the upper eyelid using the Q-tip trick (above).

Fresh blood on the face, however, makes the Q-tip a little slippery along the upper eyelid, preventing an adequate view of the eye itself.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-25T15:43:21-08:00Mar 23, 2011|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Tricks of the Trade: Finding the wandering contact lens

Contact lens wearers are familiar with the phenomenon of the wandering lens. What should you do if you can’t visualize the contact lens of a patient, who presents with a “lost contact lens” in the eye? You have the patient look in all directions and you evert the eyelid, but still no contact lens can be found. The patient swears that it’s there because of the painful foreign-body sensation.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-06-01T09:35:32-07:00Jan 5, 2011|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

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