EyeWorld Asia-Pacific June 2020 Issue

CATARACT EWAP JUNE 2020 23 Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and the young eye surgeon by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director Contact information Donaldson: KDonaldson@med.miami.edu Safran: safran12@comcast.net Trattler: wtrattler@gmail.com This article originally appeared in the March 2020 issue of EyeWorld . It has DGGP UNKIJVN[ OQFKƂGF CPF CRRGCTU here with permission from the ASCRS Ophthalmic Services Corp. W hile the utility of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) is a widely discussed topic among practicing ophthalmologists, its trickle down into training and those who are early in their career is mixed. According to one study, 44.1% of ophthalmology residency programs included FLACS as of 2017. 1 The 2019 ASCRS Clinical Survey found that among respondents who were in residency, fellowship, œÀ ̅iˆÀ wÀÃÌ x Þi>Àà œv «À>V̈Vi] nearly 26% had neither observed nor performed FLACS and nearly 43% had observed but not performed FLACS during their training. About 33% of respondents said they were Vœ˜w`i˜Ì œÀ ÛiÀÞ Vœ˜w`i˜Ì with FLACS. More established practicing ophthalmologists reported using FLACS in an average of 17% of their cataract patients, and more ̅>˜ ™x¯ œv ̅iÃi >ÌiÀ‡V>ÀiiÀ ophthalmologists think FLACS œvviÀà Vˆ˜ˆV> Li˜iwÌÃ] >VVœÀ`ˆ˜} to the survey. Kendall Donaldson, MD, said she thinks resident ophthalmologists should have experience with FLACS and extracapsular cataract surgery and traditional «…>Vœi“ՏÈwV>̈œ˜° “All of these techniques may be considered an appropriate option in certain cases, and resident surgeons should feel Vœ˜w`i˜Ì ܈̅̅iÃi Û>ÀˆœÕà techniques by the time they complete their training,” Dr. Donaldson said. “With premium cataract surgery becoming a more common option and rapidly advancing improvements in lens options, graduating surgeons should be prepared to offer their patients the latest technology in cataract surgery.” She also said learning the During your training and/or experience thus far, how many laser assisted cataract surgeries (LACS) have you performed? (# of eyes) More than 30 cases performed 11 – 30 cases performed 6 – 10 cases performed £ q x V>Ãià «iÀvœÀ“i` I have observed cases, but not performed any cases myself I have not observed or performed any cases 11.5% 6.6% 7.1% 6.6% 42.6% 25.7% 6iÀÞ œ˜w`i˜Ì œ˜w`i˜Ì Neutral 1˜Vœ˜w`i˜Ì œÌ œ˜w`i˜Ì >Ì Ƃ 18.2% 15.2% 22.7% 22.0% 22.0% Given your training and/or experience you have received thus far, how would you rate your EQPƂFGPEG YKVJ NCUGT CUUKUVGF ECVCTCEV UWTXGT[! Source: 2019 ASCRS Clinical Survey