Increasing the number of photorefractive keratectomy procedures from a single excimer laser gas fill.
Excimer laser ablative procedures are an expensive proposition for both the patient and the user. The high capital expenditure and the cost of consumables, notably the argon-fluoride gas, makes it imperative to achieve maximum utilization in terms of number of cases treated per fill of gas. This is particularly true in countries like India. The maximum number of cases can be treated by understanding not only the limitations of each fill of gas, but by proper patient scheduling and modifications to the treatment protocol. This paper outlines our modified protocol and the patient scheduling software that we developed to meet these criteria.
Janakiraman
P
P
Eye Research Foundation, Madras, India.
Rajendran
B
B
D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery*; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D009216:Myopia / Q000601:surgery*; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software