room, ready to immediately start prepping and
draping the patient's eye. As that's happening, Dr.
Shatz finishes scrubbing in. The patient is typically
ready to be operated on as soon as he sits down at
the microscope.
Ophthalmic technicians at the facility are cross-
trained to run the laser and assist during surgery as
scrub technicians. "We have multiple staff members
who can handle the same tasks," says Ms. Wiltshire.
"Staffing issues are minimized because of this type
of versatile coverage."
Anesthesia methods used during surgery should
also focus on patient comfort and overall surgical
efficiencies, according to Dr. Shatz. He administers
topical drops rather than local anesthetic injections
around or behind the eye.
"I've always felt that the risk of peribulbar or
retrobulbar anesthesia is too high compared with
drops," he says. "When using anesthetic drops, you
don't have to be concerned about post-injection
intraocular pressure elevation. Plus, patients are
able to move and blink their eye sooner after sur-
gery, a factor that speeds healing and allows the
edema to subside. This increases the overall effi-
ciency of the procedure, decreases the time patients
spend in the PACU and speeds visual recovery."
After surgery is complete, make sure patients
have quick and easy transitions to home. In recov-
ery, debrief patients and their family members
about the procedure, review post-op instructions
and schedule follow-up appointments.
As soon as patients are wheeled out of the OR,
staff should begin turning over the room and
preparing instruments for reprocessing. SightTrust
has three full instrument trays, so Dr. Shatz is never
kept waiting for sterilized tools to arrive in the OR.
Additionally, Ms. Wiltshire notes that all of the trays
are set up exactly the same way, which makes
preparing sets for surgery and sterilization that
much easier.
Comfort with
the familiar
Operating efficiently is important,
but you must do so without losing
focus on what matters most. Dr.
Shatz says SightTrust's staff mem-
bers are trained to talk with
patients about the current step in
their care and also what's going to
happen next. This makes a huge
difference in their overall comfort
level with the entirety of their
care. "An important aspect of
cataract surgery is to set the
appropriate expectations for
patients," says Dr. Shatz. "They'll
fear the process if they don't
understand it or know what to
expect. When they're educated
about all of the steps involved,
they're better prepared for the
experience. And when each step
occurs as they expect, they'll
know their surgery is going exact-
ly as planned."
OSM
3 4 • O U T P A T I
E
N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 1
Mobile Surgery Platform
E l i m i n a t e p a t i e n t t r a n s f e r s
PRE-OP OPERATING ROOM RECOVERY
Anetic Aid, USA + 817 846 5242
steve.smargiasso@aneticaid.com aneticaid.com/us
Shorten case length
Improve OR turnover
Reduce cross contamination
