Estimation of the Economic and Environmental Impact of Single-Use Instruments in Routine Cataract Surgery.

Purpose: To estimate the economic and environmental impact of single-use instruments (SUIs) to perform standard cataract surgery in six ophthalmology centers located in Europe and in the United States.

Setting: Online survey and interview.

Design: Comparative cost analysis based on an online survey with follow-up questionnaire and interview.

Refractive outcome of toric intraocular lens calculation in cases of oblique anterior corneal astigmatism.

Purpose: To establish whether toric intraocular lens (IOL) calculation on the basis of anterior corneal measurements alone, in corneas with oblique anterior astigmatism, will result in a systematic overcorrection or undercorrection of postoperative refractive astigmatism, and to establish whether adjustment of oblique anterior corneal astigmatism to allow for the likely effect of posterior corneal astigmatism is needed in such eyes.

Setting: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Adelaide, South Australia.

Design: Retrospective case series.

The utility of routine conjunctival swabs in management of conjunctivitis.

Aim: To determine the accuracy of preliminary results of conjunctival swab culture and to evaluate the utility of preliminary and final conjunctival swab culture results in the routine management of conjunctivitis.

Methods: We prospectively identified 164 conjunctival swabs from adults and children over 3 weeks of age and compared preliminary (next day) with final culture results. We modelled the would-be effect on treatment and clinical outcome of three strategies (indiscriminant, delayed and targeted) for management of acute conjunctivitis.