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Surgical trainees can safely perform femtosecond LASIK
With the guidance of an experienced surgeon, surgical trainees can safely perform femtosecond LASIK, yielding good visual outcomes, according to a study.
In a retrospective case series comparing femtosecond LASIK outcomes of 72 eyes operated on by resident and fellow trainees and 157 eyes operated on by an attending surgeon, only flap thickness was found to be significantly different between the two groups, with the attending group achieving thinner flaps (P < .0001).
Even though uncorrected distance visual acuity on day 1 postoperatively was significantly better in the hands of the experienced surgeon, thereafter there were no significant differences. Mean follow-up was 6.6 months.
Postoperative complications included microstriae in 12.5% of patients in the trainee group and 1.9% of patients in the attending group, and interface debris was found in 16.7% of patients in the trainee group compared with 3.2% of patients in the attending group; however, these complications were not visually significant and did not have any long-term effects.