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Standardized bilateral LASIK protocol yields similar operating times for two surgeons
A standardized surgical protocol for bilateral LASIK resulted in similar procedure times for two experienced surgeons, according to a study.
"Use of a standardized surgical protocol can optimize the efficiency of corneal suction time as well as total surgical time while providing the expected equivalency in visual outcomes between surgeons," the study authors said.
The standardized protocol was developed for use with the Mel 80 excimer laser and VisuMax femtosecond laser (both Carl Zeiss Meditec).
The surgeons performed bilateral LASIK on 30 patients each using the standardized protocol. All procedures were recorded on video. Intraoperative timestamps were recorded for flap creation, flap lift, excimer laser ablation and flap replacement.
Total surgery time encompassed the interval between speculum insertion in the first eye and speculum removal from the second eye.
Mean total surgery time was 11 minutes 17 seconds for the first surgeon and 12 minutes 13 seconds for the second surgeon. Mean bilateral flap creation time was 3 minutes 5 seconds for the first surgeon and 3 minutes 42 seconds for the second surgeon. Mean suction time for individual eyes was 26 seconds for the first surgeon and 23 seconds for the second surgeon.
The second surgeon took longer than the first surgeon to perform four steps. These differences in timing were attributed to the second surgeon taking slightly more time to converse with patients.
The surgeons had identical visual and refractive outcomes using the standardized protocol in a previous study. – by Matt Hasson
Disclosures: Reinstein reports he is a consultant to Carl Zeiss Meditec and has a proprietary interest in the Artemis technology (ArcScan) through patents administered by the Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University. The other authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Reinstein DZ, et al. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2015;doi:10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.08.039.