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Specializing in bilateral cataracts has helped SightTrust Eye
Institute in Sunrise, Fla., run an efficient service line while
increasing patient satisfaction. The bilateral option is offered to
every patient and most choose to have both eyes treated during
a single session, according to Andrew C. Shatz, MD, SightTrust's
owner and surgeon.
He began performing bilateral cases after reviewing several
large studies that found no difference in complication rates —
including infection, retinal detachment and improper IOL
implantation — between same-day bilateral cataract surgery
and procedures performed on each eye on separate days.
"It's a much more efficient, less stressful process for the
patient," says Dr. Shatz. "They don't have to endure two trips to
the facility, two sessions of anesthesia, two healing periods and
two separate post-op eyedrop regimens. Patients like the idea
of one surgery, one healing time."
Treating both eyes during a single case has reduced the
number of patient visits during the pandemic, thereby minimiz-
ing exposure risks to COVID-19 for everyone in the facility.
Dr. Shatz says patients end up spending an extra 10 minutes
in the facility when getting both eyes operated on in the same
day and tend to adapt to their new vision more quickly, especial-
ly when they opt for multifocal lens implants. — Kendal Gapinski
The Benefits of
Bilateral Cataract Surgery
SEEING DOUBLE Operating on both eyes on the same day is a safe and patient-pleasing option.
HELPING HAND Staff members who are trained to
anticipate the next steps of surgery are invaluable
contributors to streamlined care.
