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In remote locations, damaged instrument can sometimes be salvaged
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Ophthalmic surgeons working in remote eye units should assess damaged surgical instruments to identify those that can be repaired locally, those that should be sent to a professional repair service and those that cannot be repaired at all, according to an article in Community Eye Health.
In the article, Sam Powdrill reviews how to assess and make simple adjustments to damaged instruments for extracapsular cataract extraction. His advice: repair the good quality instruments, but not necessarily the less expensive ones.
Anything that may risk injury to the patient’s eye during surgery should be repaired immediately, and, if repair is impossible, discarded, he advised.
Instruments such as capsulotomy scissors warrant professional service, he said. Other instruments, such as lens dialers, muscle hooks, Westcott scissors and microforceps, can sometimes be repaired on site, Mr. Powdrill said.