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Learning from live surgery
 The operating room is cluttered with cameras and cables in prepar- ation for a live surgery event . |
At the large ophthalmology meetings, the live surgery events are always popular and attract a lot of attention. And for good reason — I think that live surgery is one of the best ways to learn about new techniques and technologies.
With regards to live surgery, the meeting that has impressed me the most is the OSN Rome meeting in conjunction with the Società Oftalmologica Italiana, which is held every year in May in Rome. This meeting has a wide variety of live surgical cases interspersed among the lectures. I enjoyed watching cataract cases, but also refractive surgery, vitrectomies and even pterygium surgery, and more importantly, I learned different approaches for solving the same problem.
But live surgery is no easy task for the surgeon or the organizers. Some of the logistics are quite complicated, such as bringing up to five different video cameras into one operating room. In addition to the microscope-mounted camera, the surgeon often has a camera over his shoulder, above his hands and across the patient's nose. In one ear piece the surgeon hears directions from the video director to center the camera or change the focus. The other ear and microphone connect the surgeon to the moderator in the auditorium, who often asks questions pertaining to the surgery.
During live surgery there is no safety net, editing of footage or cherry picking of videos — what you see is unscripted and real, just like in your own operating room. I've been fortunate to have participated in multiple live surgery events at many meetings across the globe, and every time it's a new learning experience. I highly recommend the OSN Rome meeting, and I look forward to seeing you there next year.