This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Reducing anxiety in LASIK patients helps improve satisfaction
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
WASHINGTON — Empowering patients during their LASIK procedure is among the steps surgeons can take to enhance the experience, according to one surgeon who related pearls for conducting LASIK at Refractive Day during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
“We all know LASIK is a great procedure ... but we can still have issues,” Louis E. Probst, MD, said. Complications are becoming more rare, but the procedure can still be stressful for patients, he said.
One way to reduce complications is to use single-use instruments, which consistently provide clean, smooth, noncontaminated equipment. Another is to conduct a “time out/verification” to prevent treatment errors.
The balance of his pearls, however, involved the “psychology of LASIK.” First, Probst conducts “flap and zap” LASIK, meaning he completes surgery on one eye before working on the second. After the first eye is completed, he asks the patient’s permission before proceeding to the second eye. Patients appreciate the respect, he said.
Finally, empower patients by allowing them to decide how to alleviate their anxiety.
“Some patients get pretty anxious under the laser. It’s an intimidating environment,” he said. “The absolute worst thing you can do there is push through. It won’t turn out well for anybody, and you’ll feel terrible for doing it.”
Rather, Probst suggested taking a “step back” and giving the patient choices on how to proceed. The patient may want more anxiety medication or a break, or may want to proceed.
“What you do is take a tense situation and turn it into a very controlled, relaxed situation,” he said. – by Patricia Nale, ELS
Reference:
Probst LE. Five LASIK pearls in 8 minutes. Presented at: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting; April 13-17, 2018; Washington.
Disclosure: Probst reports no relevant financial disclosures.