Observational studyAmerican journal of ophthalmology2021
Effect of Taping Face Masks on Quantitative Particle Counts Near the Eye: Implications for Intravitreal Injections in the COVID-19 Era.
Observational study in American journal of ophthalmology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of mask wearing on cultivable conjunctival bacteria in Chinese healthcare workers.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Risks and benefits of face masks in children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- The bacterial burden of worn face masks-observational research and literature review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Effect of fenestrated sterile drape and face mask on bacterial dispersion toward the periocular area during intravitreal injection.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Relationship between surgical field contamination by patient's exhaled air and the state of the drapes during eye surgery.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- LASIK flap dislocation following direct face mask-induced mechanical trauma.BMJ case reports · 2022Article
- Safety Measures for Maintaining Low Endophthalmitis Rate after Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injection before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- The effect of COVID-19 pandemic and wearing face masks on ophthalmology practice: What is known so far? A narrative review.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Review
- Alterations in tear film and wavefront parameters associated with different types of disposable surgical masks in healthcare personnel during working hours: a randomized trial.Therapeutic advances in ophthalmologyArticle
- Impact of Prefilled Syringes and Masking on Postintravitreal Injection Endophthalmitis.Journal of vitreoretinal diseasesArticle
- Intravitreal Injections and Face Masks: Endophthalmitis Risk Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of ophthalmic & vision researchArticle
- Management Patterns and Outcomes for Intravitreal Injection-Related Endophthalmitis.Journal of vitreoretinal diseasesArticle
- The Impact of COVID-19 on US and International Retina Specialists, Their Practices, and Their Patients.Journal of vitreoretinal diseasesArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo determine the effect of taping the top of face masks on air particle counts directed toward the eye during simulated intravitreal injections.
designProspective observational crossover study.
methodsThirteen healthy subjects were recruited. Each wore a cloth, surgical, or N95 mask in randomized order. The number of air particles were quantified by using a particle counter suspended over the right eye while each subject breathed normally, deeply, or spoke using a standardized script. Particle counts were obtained with the top of each mask taped and not taped. The main outcome measurements were particle counts of 0.3, 0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 10 μm and total particle counts.
resultsTaping cloth masks while subjects were speaking significantly reduced particle counts for the 0.3- (P = .03), 0.5- (P = .01), and 1-μm (P = .03) particles and total particle counts (P = .008) compared to no taping. Taping the top of cloth masks during normal or deep breathing did not significantly affect particle counts compared to no taping. Taping the top of surgical or N95 masks did not significantly alter particle counts for any breathing condition tested.
conclusionsTaping the top of cloth masks prior to simulated intravitreal injections significantly reduced air particle counts directed toward the eye when subjects were speaking compared to no taping. This may have implications for decreasing air particles reaching the eye during intravitreal injections, including aerosolized droplets from a patient's mouth that may carry oral pathogens.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.