Surveying Scottish ophthalmic trainees' experience with the use of 3 piece IOLs for cataract surgery

Session Details

Session Title: Presented Poster Session: Training & Quality of Vision

Venue: Poster Village: Pod 3

First Author: : S.Guthrie UK

Co Author(s): :    C. Goudie   D. Lockington                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

We wished to assess the surgical training experience of ophthalmology trainees in Scotland, and in particular, exposure to using 3-piece IOLs. Previously, these IOLs were commonly used as the primary IOL choice, but the advent of preloaded injectable IOLs means that 3-piece IOLs are now rarely used, and mainly in the setting of a complication.

Setting:

Tennent Institute of Ophthalmology, Glasgow, UK.

Methods:

We performed an online questionnaire of ophthalmic trainees across Scotland in November 2017 by using “SurveyMonkey” – an online survey website.

Results:

There was a 58% (40/69) response rate. 8 trainees regularly used 3-piece IOLs so were excluded. The remaining 32 trainees had a good range of experience in level of training. Only 2 trainees had undergone wet lab training for this scenario. 8 trainees had inserted less than 10, and 15 trainees had never used them. Only 6 trainees had inserted more than 30 3-piece IOLs. Regarding the most recent 3-piece IOL insertion by trainees, 25% were a planned secondary procedure and 28.1% were unplanned use in the setting of a complication (of which 47% had never used one).

Conclusions:

These results suggest a lack of experience exists within the ophthalmic surgical trainees in Scotland towards using 3-piece IOLs. As this procedure is more commonly performed in the setting of acute surgical complications, consideration should be given to providing wetlab training, and also to using 3-piece IOLs on occasion for routine cataract surgery, to ensure familiarity with the technique and maintenance of skills.

Financial Disclosure:

None