Dataset Information

Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility.

ABSTRACT: PURPOSE:To measure the waste generation and lifecycle environmental emissions from cataract surgery via phacoemulsification in a recognized resource-efficient setting. SETTING:Two tertiary care centers of the Aravind Eye Care System in southern India. DESIGN:Observational case series. METHODS:Manual waste audits, purchasing data, and interviews with Aravind staff were used in a hybrid environmental lifecycle assessment framework to quantify the environmental emissions associated with cataract surgery. Kilograms of solid waste generated and midpoint emissions in a variety of impact categories (eg, kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents). RESULTS:Aravind generates 250 grams of waste per phacoemulsification and nearly 6 kilograms of carbon dioxide-equivalents in greenhouse gases. This is approximately 5% of the United Kingdom's phaco carbon footprint with comparable outcomes. A majority of Aravind's lifecycle environmental emissions occur in the sterilization process of reusable instruments because their surgical system uses largely reusable instruments and materials. Electricity use in the operating room and the Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) accounts for 10% to 25% of most environmental emissions. CONCLUSIONS:Surgical systems in most developed countries and, in particular their use of materials, are unsustainable. Results show that ophthalmologists and other medical specialists can reduce material use and emissions in medical procedures using the system described here.

SUBMITTER: Thiel CL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5728421 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility.

Thiel Cassandra L CL Schehlein Emily E Ravilla Thulasiraj T Ravindran R D RD Robin Alan L AL Saeedi Osamah J OJ Schuman Joel S JS Venkatesh Rengaraj R

Journal of cataract and refractive surgery 20171101 11

<h4>Purpose</h4>To measure the waste generation and lifecycle environmental emissions from cataract surgery via phacoemulsification in a recognized resource-efficient setting.<h4>Setting</h4>Two tertiary care centers of the Aravind Eye Care System in southern India.<h4>Design</h4>Observational case series.<h4>Methods</h4>Manual waste audits, purchasing data, and interviews with Aravind staff were used in a hybrid environmental lifecycle assessment framework to quantify the environmental emission ...[more]

PMID: 29223227

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Project description:PURPOSE:To report the 3-month results of a randomized trial (Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Trial [FACT]) comparing femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) with standard phacoemulsification cataract surgery (PCS). DESIGN:Multicenter, randomized controlled trial funded by the UK National Institute of Health Research (HTA 13/04/46/). PARTICIPANTS:Seven hundred eighty-five patients with age-related cataract. METHODS:This trial took place in 3 hospitals in the UK National Health Service (NHS). Randomization (1:1) was stratified by site, surgeon, and 1 or both eyes eligible using a secure web-based system. Postoperative assessments were masked to the allocated intervention. The primary outcome was unaided distance visual acuity (UDVA) in the study eye at 3 months. Secondary outcomes included corrected distance visual acuity, complications, and patient-reported outcomes measures. The noninferiority margin was 0.1 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR). ISRCTN.com registry, number ISRCTN77602616. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:We enrolled 785 participants between May 2015 and September 2017 and randomly assigned 392 to FLACS and 393 to PCS. At 3 months postoperatively, mean UDVA difference between treatment arms was -0.01 logMAR (-0.05 to 0.03), and mean corrected distance visual acuity difference was -0.01 logMAR (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.05 to 0.02). Seventy-one percent of both FLACS and PCS cases were within ±0.5 diopters (D) of the refractive target, and 93% of FLACS and 92% of PCS cases were within ±1.0 D. There were 2 posterior capsule tears in the PCS arm and none in the FLACS arm. There were no significant differences between arms for any secondary outcome. CONCLUSIONS:Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery is not inferior to conventional PCS surgery 3 months after surgery. Both methods are as good in terms of vision, patient-reported health, and safety outcomes at 3 months. Longer-term outcomes of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness are awaited.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To investigate differences in surgical time, the distance the surgical instrument travelled and number of movements required to complete manual phacoemulsification cataract surgery versus femtosecond laser cataract surgery. DESIGN:Non-randomised comparative case series. SETTING:Single surgery site, Moorfields Eye Hospital, UK. PARTICIPANTS:40 cataract surgeries of 40 patients. INTERVENTIONS:Laser-assisted and manual phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Laser-assisted surgery cases were performed using the AMO Catalys platform. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:Computer vision tracking software PhacoTracking were applied to the recordings to establish the distance the instrument travelled, total number of movements (the number of times an instrument stops and starts moving) and time taken for surgery steps including phacoemulsification, irrigation-aspiration (IA) and overall surgery time. The time taken for laser docking and delivery was not included in the analyses. RESULTS:Data on 19 laser-assisted and 19 manual phacoemulsification surgeries were analysed (two cases were excluded due to insufficient video-recording quality). There were no differences in the number of instrument moves, the distance the instrument travelled or time taken to complete the phacoemulsification stage. However for IA, the number of instrument moves (manual: mean 20 (SD 15) vs laser: mean 38 (SD 22), P=0.008) and time taken (manual: mean 75?s (SD 24) vs laser: mean 108?s (SD 36), P=0.003) were significantly greater for laser cases. For laser versus manual cases overall, there was no difference in number of moves or the distance the instrument travelled, but laser cases took longer (mean 88?s, P=0.049). CONCLUSIONS:Laser cataract surgery cases took longer to complete without accounting for the time taken to complete the laser procedure itself. This appears to be in part due to IA requiring more instrument manoeuvres and taking longer to complete. Data from a large randomised series would better elucidate this relationship.

Dataset Information

Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility.

Publications

Cataract surgery and environmental sustainability: Waste and lifecycle assessment of phacoemulsification at a private healthcare facility.

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