the end of the surgical procedure. Using an injectable sustained
release and biodegradable intraocular drug delivery system called
"Verisome," Dexycu bio-erodes in a way that mimics the tapering
process that patients find so challenging.
"Drops are dramatically reduced by eliminating the need for the
steroid, and we're taking compliance out of the patient's hand," says
Dr. Matossian. "We know for sure it's in the eye because we're putting
it in there. Now they're down to 2 drops instead of 3, and it's a much
simpler regimen, especially because the non-steroidal drop is just
once a day."
Moreover, says Dr. Matossian, Dexycu doesn't irritate the ocular sur-
face the way the chemicals in drops can.
Dexycu has a permanent J-code (J1095) and a 3-year pass-through
status, "so it doesn't cost the patient any money, doesn't cost the doc-
tor any money and doesn't cost the insurance carrier any money,"
says Dr. Matossian.
9 2 • O U T PA 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 1 9
Exparel (Pacira)
If you don't like seeing patients suffer, don't do shoulder surgeries.
That, says Shariff Bishai, DO, MS, FAOAO, was his attitude when he
was finishing his residency, a little more than a decade ago. "After see-
ing those patients in so much pain and agony, I remember saying to
myself, I never want to be a shoulder surgeon."
Guess what Dr. Bishai, of the Associated Orthopedists of Detroit
(Mich.), is doing these days.
"Ironically, that's what I have become," he says. But with a lot less
pain and agony than there used to be, he's quick to add, thanks to
arthroscopic advances, nerve blocks and, above all, liposomal bupiva-
caine, the not-so-secret sauce that's winning converts to Exparel.
"What we've seen with Exparel is something completely different,"
