A prospective study of cost, patient satisfaction, and outcome of treatment of chalazion by medical and nursing staff

Aim-To study prospectively the outcome of conservative and surgical treatme nt of chalazia provided by medical and nursing staff. Methods-During a 5 month recruitment period all patients attending a distri ct general eye hospital for treatment of chalazion were included in the stu dy. 129 patients (217 visits) with chalazia were seen by either a senior nu rse or a trainee ophthalmologist (senior house officer, SHO) or both. Patie nts received either conservative treatment or eversion of the eyelid with i ncision and curettage. Patients were mailed a questionnaire asking them if their cyst had resolved and how they rated their treatment. Marginal cost a nalysis was used to determine the cost of treatment. Results-The outcome of treatment could be determined in 170 of the 217 visi ts. Conservative treatment was successful for 29% of cysts while surgical t reatment was successful for 72%. There was no significant difference in tre atment outcome between nurse and SHO groups. Patients found nurse treatment acceptable with a high level of patient satisfaction. The marginal cost of treatment by a nurse was pound 9.91 per cyst compared with pound 2.10 for SHOs. There were no surgical complications and no evidence of malignancy in six biopsies. Conclusions-Surgical treatment of chalazion is safe and effective and succe ssfully treats approximately three quarters of selected cysts. With conserv ative treatment approximately one third of selected chalazia will resolve w ithin 3 months. Nurse treatment of chalazion is safe, effective, and accept able to patients.