You can re-use your phaco tips
When feasible and safe, reuse of some surgical instruments
might improve the cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery, state the
guidelines.
In many countries around the world, it is standard practice to re-use
phaco tips. In the United States, however, there is a lot of variability
between manufacturers' labeling on the number of times their tips can
be used. Some manufacturers say their tips are single use while others
say they can be used 50 times. One company sells 2 phaco tips: one is
single-use and the other can be used 20 times. All phaco tips are made
from titanium. In a study undertaken by task force members that sim-
ulated typical heavy use of the phaco tips, they found no ultrastructur-
al damage that would be of any concern.
"This is just another example of an area where the surgeon should
have some discretion," says Dr. Chang. "Like detecting a dull suturing
needle, we can tell if a phaco tip is not cutting well. If we noticed that
a phaco tip wasn't cutting well, we would replace it, regardless of how
3
M A Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 7
Download the "Guidelines for the Cleaning
and Sterilization of Intraocular Surgical
Instruments" at osmag.net/vSEjJ8. The
American Society of Cataract and Refractive
Surgery (ASCRS), the American Academy of
Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Ophthalmic
Outpatient Surgery Society (OOSS) jointly
formed the Ophthalmic Instrument Cleaning
and Sterilization Task Force.
Download Updated Guidelines
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
ON THE WEB
