Input sought on cataract surgery waste
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The Ophthalmic Instrument Cleaning and Sterilization Task Force is asking cataract surgeons and nurses to take part in an online survey on surgical waste and their willingness to help reduce it.
“Newly published research has shown that the carbon footprint of cataract surgery in the United States is surprisingly high, due in large part to our many disposable products and supplies. Although it’s already the most common operation, global cataract surgical volumes will sharply escalate during the next two decades. Considering this scale, needless OR waste is both economically and environmentally unsustainable,” David F. Chang, MD, the task force’s co-chair, told Healio/OSN.
Surgical waste includes instruments, drugs and supplies that are being designed and manufactured as disposable, whereas many items were once reusable.
“One example is the tubing and cassette we use in cataract surgery,” John A. Hovanesian, MD, FACS, told Healio/OSN. “In the past, tubing and cassettes were reusable, and they still are overseas. But in the U.S., we now throw away all of the tubing, cassette and packaging used in each case. It generates considerable extra cost and waste.”
In addition, new bottles of medications such as proparacaine, mydriatic agents, antibiotics, NSAIDs and steroids are opened for each patient.
“These essentially full multi-use bottles cannot be taken home by the patients to use in their own postop period, even though the bottles were opened and used only for that specific patient,” Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS, told Healio/OSN. “Not only do these regulations add to OR waste and water source contamination, but also to the overall health care cost.”
The survey, which should take approximately 10 minutes to fill out, is intended to determine if a majority of surgeons are united in wanting to reduce waste and to leverage that information to affect regulatory change.
“Many colleagues are frustrated by the increasing number of regulations in our ORs and the amount of waste that these regulations produce,” Chang said. “Individually we are helpless to impact change. However, spending 10 minutes to take this survey is one way to have your voice and opinion heard. The more respondents we have, the more credible the findings will be when presented to industry and government agencies.”
Click here to add your voice to the OICS task force’s survey. – by Rebecca L. Forand
Disclosures: Chang, Hovanesian and Matossian report no relevant financial disclosures.