Current Trends in Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Korea-1998 Survey for KSCRS Members

ABSTRACT

Cataract and refractive surgical procedures are now among the most common and successful surgeries in medicine. A clear understanding of the current situation and future trends in these fields has become increasingly important. Since 1995, we have annually surveyed the members of the Korean Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery(KSCRS)on cataract surgery technique, anesthesia, intraocular lens and refractive surgery. 4th annual survey forms consisted of 73 multiple-choice questions mailed in February 1999 to 176 ophthalmologists of the KSCRS. Approximately 47% of the sent out questionnaires were returned by the March cutoff date. Current data were compared with previous annual survey and data from Japan and USA. Hospitalized period is decreased annually and use of topical anesthesia(42%) increased greatly. Self sealing wound construction was the main wound closure technique in phacoemulsification accounted for 73%. Most preferred intraocular lenses for small incision cataract surgery are silicone(47%), PMMA(38%)and acrylic(15%). Viscoelastics(33%)produced by Korean medical company becomes widely used compared with previous year. Sixty eight percent of the respondents were performing excimer laser keratotomy for refractive surgery. Most preferred diopter for differentiation PRK from LASIK was 5 diopter. From this survey, we found current trend and change in cataract and refractive surgery in Korea are similar to those of Japan and USA.