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. 2023 Feb 21;16(1):59-63.
doi: 10.4103/ojo.ojo_128_22. eCollection 2023 Jan-Apr.

Cataract surgery training: Report of a trainee's experience

Matteo Ripa  1   2 , Atef Sherif  3
Affiliations

Cataract surgery training: Report of a trainee's experience

Matteo Ripa et al. Oman J Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Background: To report a trainee's experience gained in the cataract extraction training program after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An ophthalmologist was trained in phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in the ETAPE foundation, Eye Center, Cairo for a period of 4 weeks by three expert cataract surgeons. The training was tailored to the previous trainee's experience according to his residency logbook and supervised by one expert cataract surgeon. The training included didactic lectures, clinical observations, and hands-on practical experience. In addition, the trainee was provided with a logbook to record details of patients operated on and procedures observed.

Results: The trainee performed 58 phacoemulsification surgery with IOL implantation and two extracapsular cataract extraction over the 4 weeks. Seven patients underwent intraoperative complications. Surgical time (ST) improved from 48.77 ± 9.65 min in the 1stweek to 19.34 ± 1.31 min during the last week of training (P = 0.046). Poisson regression showed that patients affected by less severe cataracts were more likely to exhibit a lower incidence of complications than patients affected by more severe cataracts. In addition, patients operated on during the 1stweek were more likely to show a higher incidence of complications than those operated on during the last week.

Conclusions: The 4-week surgical training effectively improved surgical confidence and micro incisional skills according to ST reduction and complication rate occurrence. Ophthalmologists benefit from enhancing their cataract skills in a short time following a well-structured cataract extraction course. This could undoubtedly lead to improved surgical outcomes for patients undergoing cataract extraction.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cataract surgery; ophthalmic surgery; surgical training.

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Conflict of interest statement

We wish to confirm that Matteo Ripa has no conflicts of interest associated with this publication whereas Atef Sherif is employed in ETAPE foundation, Eye Center, Cairo and receive a salary for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plot of multiple regression analysis of surgical time during the whole training in the function of cataract severity grade. WHO: World health organisation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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