2020–2021 BCSC Basic and Clinical Science Course™
11 Lens and Cataract
Chapter 7: Preoperative Considerations for Cataract Surgery
IOL Power Determination
Improving Outcomes
Refractive surgical outcomes may be tracked and evaluated by collecting information such as the following:
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whether there are overcorrections or undercorrections, and whether they occur more often with longer eyes or shorter eyes or roughly equally in both
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whether the incision routinely induces cylinder
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whether toric lenses are correcting as calculated
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whether limbal relaxing incisions have been effective for the correction of astigmatism
Commercially available programs may be useful for tracking outcomes. After the surgeon has analyzed these factors, he or she may make adjustments to improve refractive outcomes, such as including a “surgeon factor” (a modification of the parameters used that reflects the surgeon’s experience) in some lens power calculations, changing the calculation software, or using immersion or optical biometry. Improving outcomes is important for increasing not only patient satisfaction but also surgeon confidence.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 11 - Lens and Cataract. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.