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manner. There's a certain amount of skill and adaptability involved,
but nothing that can't be mastered by a good vitreo-retinal surgeon.
Improved visualization is an enormously important area that will
likely become even more important over time. One of the biggest
O P H T H A L M O L O G Y
DOCTOR'S ORDERS
4 Retina Tips
•
Be sure you're ready.
Do a mock
surgery dry run to be certain that all
equipment and clinical contingencies
are worked out and addressed
before your first case.
Steven W. McCornack DO, MHSA
Anesthesia Solutions
Centerville, Ohio
stevemccormackdo@gmail.com
•
Not a race.
Take your time, be thor-
ough and do things right the first
time. Always examine the retinal
periphery at the conclusion of a vit-
rectomy.
Paul B. Griggs, MD
Northwest Eye Surgeons
Seattle, Wash.
paul.griggs@yahoo.com
•
Use regional anesthesia.
For the
most part, retina patients are old and
fairly sick. Some surgeons expect
general anesthesia for their work.
These cases can also be prolonged.
Do not think of these cases as you do
cataracts. There's much more
involved. Properly evaluate your
patients and try to do as much as pos-
sible under block. You need to have a
great rapport with your retina sur-
geon.
Philip J. Arbit, MD
Novi (Mich.) Surgery Center
pjarbit@gmail.com
•
Prevent dispersion.
When using
ICG, mix with D5W. This lets the dye
sink onto the retina, thus preventing
dispersion.
David Parks, MD
Envision Surgery Center
Lancaster, Calif.
drparks@socalretina.com
