Music in the OT makes more sense now
An interesting paper published from Korea evaluates the effect of playing traditional music in the operating room during cataract surgery on pain experience. To prevent bias, the authors enrolled patients who were undergoing bilateral sequential cataract surgery . A two-sequence, two-period,
and two treatment crossover study was performed on 52 patients. The patients were divided into two groups and they listened to music either in their first or second eye surgery. Pain intensity (PI) using a visual analog scale (VAS) was recorded. The study revealed that there was a statistically significant reduction in the mean VAS score with music as compared to that without. The same concept can be adapted to Indian patients with traditional Indian music or devotional songs instead.
Read More:
Choi S, Park SG, Bellan L, Lee HH, Chung SK. Crossover clinical trial of pain relief in cataract surgery. Int Ophthalmol. 2017 Jun 20.
Diabetes: A risk factor for endothelial cell loss after cataract surgery
A study published from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute suggests a new risk factor for endothelial cell loss after cataract surgery. Researchers investigated whether diabetes was a risk factor for excessive endothelial cell loss after phacoemulsification surgery. They released the results of a retrospective nonrandomized cohort study which evaluated 66 eyes of 55 diabetic and 67 eyes of 65 nondiabetic patients operated by a single surgeon. They found that the 1-month mean percentage endothelial cell loss was 15% ± 14% in the diabetic group and 11% ± 11% in the nondiabetic group(P = 0.03). The degree of diabetic control, based on hemoglobin A1c greater or less than 7, did not yield a significant difference in the endothelial cell loss. It seems cataract surgeons will have another factor to look out for when abticipating endothelial cell loss after phacoemulsification.
Read More:
He X, Diakonis VF, Alavi Y, Yesilirmak N, Waren D, Donaldson K. Endothelial Cell Loss in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Eyes After Cataract Surgery. Cornea. 2017 Jun 13.