The cost of cataract surgery is high and with so many disposable items per case, the environmental cost is also high with so much trash produced. To make the phaco incision you can use a steel keratome, a diamond keratome, or a femtosecond laser (the diamond keratome is the best of those choices in my opinion). But even a disposable steel keratome is expensive compared to a standard 11 blade that is routinely used in surgery of other body parts. So this begs the question, can we use the 11 blade to make the phaco incision for cataract surgery? And yes, you can, but be careful because it is more difficult and less forgiving than using a keratome. Our guest surgeons in this video make beautiful phaco incisions using the 11 blade, but I must warn you that these skilled surgeons make it look much easier than it actually is!
Great site and terrific videos. I would love to see some related to common post operative issues such and how to avoid them such as dry eye, rebound iritis, “burping” the corneal incision for high IOP and factors influencing developing posterior capsular opacification to name a few. Thanks again.