Malcolm A. McCannel, developer of McCannel suture, dies at 96

Pioneering ophthalmic surgeon Malcolm A. McCannel, MD, who developed practice management techniques as well as the McCannel suture, passed away Dec. 30 in Indianapolis. He was 96 years old.

“In his practice, he pioneered practice management methods including the use of ophthalmic technicians to take histories, perform refractions and other testing prior to being placed in one of multiple surgeon consultation rooms at a time when most ophthalmologists were performing all testing themselves,” OSN Chief Medical Editor Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, told Ocular Surgery News. “This allowed him to see a large number of patients per hour and develop a high-volume surgical practice. He was an early adopter of IOL implants, and the famous McCannel suture was developed in part to manage the subluxations associated with early iris-clip IOLs implanted after intracapsular cataract extraction.”

McCannel received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Honor Award in 1983 and Humanitarian Award in 1996, according to an obituary published in the Star Tribune. He received the Charles B. Bolles-Rogers Award in 1983, the Regents Alumni Service Award  in 1992 and the Diehl Award in 2003 from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1937.

From 1957 to 1983, McCannel volunteered with Project Hope, Medico-Care International and Project Orbis to offer free eye surgery to those in need around the world.

McCannel is survived by his wife, four daughters and five grandchildren.

“He will be missed, but his impact on how we interact with patients today lives on in hundreds of practices worldwide,” Lindstrom said.