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Poll: Xen45 implantation easy to learn
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LOS ANGELES — A Canadian survey of Allergan’s Xen45 ab interno gel stent users found that the surgeons polled believed it is easier to learn to implant the device than to learn traditional filtration surgery.
“The purpose of our study is to provide the surgeon’s perspective on learning the gel stent implantation and compare this to other glaucoma surgeries,” Andrei-Alexandru Szigiato, MD, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
Andrei-Alexandru Szigiato
Respondents of the cross-sectional survey were primarily men with about 12 years of operating experience. The majority of the steps for implantation were considered to be “easy” or “very easy,” with the two steps considered to be of highest difficulty being creation of the scleral tunnel in the subconjunctival space and the use of the injector (stent deployment), Szigiato said.
Most surgeons (52.9%) were comfortable with the procedure after six to 10 cases, with about 30% of respondents feeling comfortable after five or fewer cases.
Of the surgeons who were comfortable with less practice, the majority were already comfortable with iStent (Glaukos) implantation, he said.
“[T]he majority of surgeons, 90%, said that the gel stent was easier to learn than iStent, tube shunt surgery or trabeculectomy,” Szigiato said. – by Patricia Nale, ELS
Reference:
Szigiato AA. Surgeon perspectives and learning curve with an ab interno gelatin microstent. Presented at: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting; May 5-9, 2017; Los Angeles.
Disclosure: Szigiato reports no relevant financial disclosures.