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Nurse anesthetist Bonnie Molloy has dedicated much of the last five years researching how a patient’s position during a surgery can lead to blindness.
Her passion for the issue arose after she witnessed a patient wake up blind following a procedure. After that incident, she learned that more than 2,000 patients worldwide have lost their sight following certain surgeries.
Over the course of several studies, Molloy and colleagues learned blindness was likely linked to patients being in the head-down position (known as steep Trendelenburg) during prolonged procedures, particularly robotic and laparoscopic surgery. In this position, interocular pressure — or pressure under the eyes — can increase, which Molloy said can lead to blindness. In the head-down position, the head of the operating table is tilted downward. In certain robotic and laparoscopic surgeries, this position is preferred, as it causes the bowel to move awave from the lower abdominal organs and out of the surgeon’s way.
Molloy, who teaches in Fairfield University’s doctor of nursing practice program, just learned she will receive a $50,000 grant from the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists for a patient study on this topic, to be conducted at Bridgeport Hospital and the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven. Molloy is also the chief certified registered nurse anesthetist of Bridgeport Anesthesia Associates and director of research for the anesthesia department at Bridgeport Hospital.
The new study will continue research Molloy has already done, into whether administering eye drops during surgery will decrease pressure. The drops are one of two methods Molloy has helped develop to reduce pressure during surgery. The other is the “supine rest stop,” in which the patient is removed from the head-down postion for five to seven minutes during surgery. Molloy also helped develop a scale of measure, the Molloy/Bridgeport Anesthesia Associates Observation Scale, which monitors several conditions during surgery to determine whether pressure on the eye is rising.
Her ultimate goal, Molloy said, is to entirely prevent the rare, but disturbing phenomenon of blindness during head-down surgery. “I wanted to prevent any other patient from waking up that way,” she said.

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