COVID-19 reduced scleral buckling training in fellows and shifted young ophthalmologists' preference toward vitrectomy: An Asia-Pacific survey.
Clin Exp Ophthalmol
; 2023 May 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2320512
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
To assess rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery trends and training among young ophthalmologists (YOs, vitreoretinal fellows or attendings/consultants with ≤10 years of independent practice) and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
An anonymous online survey was completed by 117 YOs in the Asia-Pacific regarding their RRD surgery experiences in 2021-2022.RESULTS:
To achieve a 90% probability of surgical competency, 91 vitrectomy and 34 scleral buckling (SB) completions during fellowship were needed. In total, 49 (41.9%) YOs had fellowship affected by COVID-19. In the COVID versus pre-COVID era, however, the volume of SB completions per fellowship year decreased significantly (median [IQR] 3.3 [1.5, 9] vs. 13 [6.5, 23]; p < 0.001) and was lower than the required volume to achieve competency. YOs were less confident in conducting SB versus vitrectomy (3.5 ± 1.1 vs. 4.2 ± 0.8, p < 0.001), and they reported a decrease in the proportion of SB (-3.1%, p = 0.047) and an increase in the proportion of vitrectomy (+4.8%, p < 0.001) after the pandemic outbreak. Apart from RRD clinical characteristics, surgical confidence is among the main factors that affect surgical method decisions. During the pandemic, more YOs may have avoided SB due to the need for general anaesthesia, leading to longer surgical time and risk of viral transmission during intubation/extubation.CONCLUSIONS:
SB surgical exposure is suboptimal in most fellowship programs in the 11 Asia-Pacific countries/regions we surveyed and further declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. YOs are less confident in performing SB, leading to a trend toward primary vitrectomy since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Ophthalmology
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ceo.14236
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