micro-incision cataract instruments,
which are extremely difficult to steril-
ize properly without damage, many
facilities see disposables as an obvi-
ous choice.
Environmental concerns
There's still one major con to dispos-
able instruments environmentally con-
scious administrators simply can't
ignore: The green factor. The sheer
amount of waste that's generated by
cataract surgeries at high-volume facil-
ities is staggering.
"I perform 20 cataracts and see the amount of trash bags that are
thrown out at the end of the day, and it's incredible," says Dr. Bailey.
"We need to start thinking about the environmental impact and the
carbon footprint we're creating after each case."
Of course, when you're tackling a procedure with notoriously thin
margins like cataracts, sustainability is unlikely to be your top priori-
ty. For most facilities, the question about disposable versus reusable
simply comes down to cost, safety and surgeon preference. And for
some of the instruments involved in cataract procedures, that ques-
tion is already being decided for you by the industry.
"Look at reusable phaco tubing," says Dr. Newsom. "Hardly anybody
even makes reusable tubing anymore. The industry basically just said,
'We're all going disposable now.'"
Perhaps that will be the case with other reusable cataract instru-
ments five or 10 years from now.
OSM
8 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 • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0
"You have to look at cost of
labor and the sterilization
costs of reprocessing
instruments."
— Robert S. Bailey, Jr., MD
