Posters

Audit to monitor best practice in preoperative intraocular lens (IOL) selection and documentation for phacoemulsification surgery

Poster Details

First Author: P. Sandhu UNITED KINGDOM

Co Author(s):    V. Gangwani                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To determine compliance with best practice pre-operative IOL selection and documentation guidelines for phacoemulsification surgery.

Setting:

Ophthalmic theatre in a busy district general hospital.

Methods:

IOL biometry sheets for each phacoemulsification case over a 10 day period were assessed by nursing staff against a checklist. This checklist contained essential information which should have been documented on the biometry sheet when selecting an IOL before each procedure.

Results:

79 phacoemulsification procedures were conducted over a 10 day period. 77(97.5%) procedures followed best practice pre-operative IOL selection and documentation guidelines whilst 2 (2.5%) procedures did not. The standard set was 100%. It was suggested that a long list of information can be difficult to fully remember or document under the time pressures of phacoemulsification lists and so an aide-memoir would be useful. Stickers listing the required information for best practice were created and affixed to each biometry sheet at pre-assessment. These contained blank fields for data entry under set headings.

Conclusions:

A memory aid containing blank fields for data entry can be used to ensure best practice for pre-operative IOL selection and documentation. This is currently in the form of a sticker affixed to IOL biometry sheets but could be incorporated into the biometry printout as a blank table by software manufacturers. This has the potential to improve compliance by all users and reduce IOL selection errors.

Financial Disclosure:

NONE