Eyeworld

SPRING 2024 | EYEWORLD | 19 EYESUSTAIN UPDATE About the physician Emily Schehlein, MD Brighton Vision Center Brighton, Michigan References 1. Schehlein EM, et al. Reducing Ophthalmic Surgical Waste through Electronic Instructions For Use – A Multisociety Position Paper. J Cataract Refract Surg. Published online December 20, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024. 2. Rossi T, et al. Cataract surgery practice patterns worldwide: a survey. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2021;6(1):e000464. 3. Stern B, et al. Paper waste from instructions for use brochures in cataract surgery implant packaging in Europe and the United States. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2024;50:72–77. By Emily Schehlein, MD co-chaired by myself and John Hovanesian, MD, with the guidance of EyeSustain advisory board chair, David F. Chang, MD, researched and outlined the argument for sole use of e-IFU in materials used for cataract surgery. The result is a joint position paper recently released by EyeSustain, the American Academy of Oph- thalmology (AAO), the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) and published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (JCRS). 1 IFU contain information on product safety, product application, and component parts, and are required by regulatory agencies for materi- als used in ophthalmic surgery. They accompany most devices and supplies used in ophthalmic surgery, including intraocular lenses (IOLs), IOL insertion cartridges, and phacoemulsification tips and sleeves, among others. Recent studies have shown that transitioning from paper to e-IFU could reduce paper use in ophthalmic surgery by 84% and preserve over 2,000 trees or over 50,000 reams of copier paper each year. 3 Transitioning to e-IFU is a significant way for our specialty to make an important impact on the leading threat to global health: climate change. Using the example of IOLs, the position pa- per addresses potential concerns of four primary stakeholders in ophthalmic surgery: the surgical facility, the surgeon, the manufacturer, and the regulatory agencies. For example, compared to an e-IFU, a printed IFU has smaller print and cannot be immediately updated or accessed in the clinic, where IOL models and powers are selected. Transitioning to e-IFU will decrease the amount of IOL packaging and should reduce both shipping costs and waste. The position paper also reports on a collaboration between the EyeSustain Taskforce and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA), Over the last year, the ambulatory surgery center at which I operate had approximately 11,000 cataract surgeries performed. At least 11,000 intraocular lens (IOL) packages, phacoemulsifi- cation tips and sleeves packages, amongst other ophthalmic device packages, with instructions for use (IFU) manuals were opened and discarded. These IFU account for a significant portion of un- necessary waste from each package, being pages long, and most of the time, not read or utilized at the time of the surgery. Given the high volume of ophthalmic surger- ies performed worldwide and unnecessary waste that physical IFUs create from the production process to their disposal, ophthalmologists have a compelling opportunity to be at the forefront of reducing waste by switching to electronic IFU (e-IFU) as a means of improving the global cli- mate health in a practical way. In this issue's EyeSustain Update column, Em- ily Schehlein, MD, discusses exchanging physical IFU in ophthalmic surgical packaging for e-IFU, as presented in the recently published joint position paper on the use of e-IFU released by EyeSustain, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) and published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (JCRS). 1 —Amy Mehta, MD, EyeSustain Guest Editor O phthalmology is in a unique position to affect climate change considering that cataract surgery is the most performed surgery worldwide. With almost 30 million cataract surgeries performed each year, reducing waste of mate- rials used in ophthalmic surgery will make a significant impact on the reduction of health- care-related greenhouse gasses. 2 EyeSustain is a global coalition of ophthal- mic societies with the goal of making ophthal- mology more sustainable through education, advocacy, and research. The EyeSustain Task- force on Electronic Instructions for Use (e-IFU), The EyeSustain Task Force on Electronic Instructions for Use (e-IFU) position paper and recommendations continued on page 20

• Blank Page
• Blank Page (1)