Current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan: 1999 survey

Purpose: The eighth annual survey was carried out by mail in February 2000 to investigate the current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Jap an. Respondents: Questionnaires were sent to 930 ophthalmologist members of the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Data received from 45 7 (49.1%) of the recipients were cross-analyzed and compared with those fro m the previous surveys. Results: In cataract surgery, 17% of respondents were doing 51 or more case s per month, 94% preferred ph aco emulsification, 58% employed the self-sea ling wound closure technique, and 26% used topical anesthesia for phacoemul sification. In refractive surgery, excimer laser surgery and astigmatic ker atotomy attracted notably high interest, while less attention was directed toward radial keratotomy and intrastromal corneal ring. Laser in situ kerat omileusis, photorefractive keratectomy, phakic intraocular lens, intrastrom al corneal ring, and radial keratotomy were judged to be useful refractive surgical procedures by 69.0%, 40.0%, 24.6%, 14.2%, and 8.0% of the responde nts, respectively. Conclusion: There are trends toward more surgical procedures performed by a surgeon, shorter period of hospitalization, and increasing preference for small incision cataract surgery. Refractive surgery is not yet widely perfo rmed, but laser in situ keratomileusis is viewed as the most promising proc edure. Jpn J Ophthalmol 2001;45:383-387 (C) 2001 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.