Communication, comfort help allay fear of cataract surgery

The prospect of cataract surgery is a frightening one for many patients, but open lines of communication and patient education can allow ophthalmologists to guide wary patients through the process.

“我总是告诉我的病人，你会疯狂不要害怕，因为这是你的眼睛，这是你的身体，这是你最宝贵的感觉，”杰克S.Parker,医学博士，博士,told Healio/OSN.

帕克（Parker）合着了这本书What ISAY：对话即兴e医师患者关系with Robert H. Osher, MD, performs cataract surgery every week. When a patient comes to the office expressing fear, it can be invalidating to downplay that emotion, Parker said.

在约翰逊和约翰逊愿景全球评估白内障意识的一项调查中，只有30％的美国受访者表示，他们“很可能”接受白内障手术，其中29％的受访者以恐惧为主要威慑力量。

“我总是告诉人们，我们将像对待它一样对待它是我们整天所做的最重要的事情，但这是美国执行的最常见程序，我们希望取得很好的结果，”帕克说。

调查中选择不接受白内障手术的其他原因包括对手术功效和知识缺乏的担忧。

“我想说的是，与任何一无所知的患者打交道几乎更容易，因为您可以指导他们的教育。”Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS,said, adding that patients with cataracts often fall into one of two categories: those who have done their own internet research and those who know just about nothing.

“I try to reassure and educate them without overloading them with technical details,” McDonald said. “For most patients, it is best if you guide their education. That means that you suggest which websites they go to or which videos they watch because there is some suboptimal, unvetted information on the internet. I want my patients to watch videos and get information from reliable internet sites. Knowledge — accurate knowledge — is power. When they know what will be happening to them at every stage during their stay at our ambulatory surgery center, and the great chance of success, they are much calmer and happier; they are more confident and cooperative.”

In addition to educating patients with video, McDonald also explains the statistics supporting the high success rate of modern cataract surgery.

同样，在解决不确定的患者时，沟通是帕克的核心策略。他说，这有助于使用常规脚本进入对话。

“Everybody is different, and you want to treat people like people, but on the other hand, if you know how to explain things accurately and precisely, and you have considered your words before they come tumbling out of your mouth, they are likely to be much more comforting and reassuring,” Parker said.

Performing cataract surgery in the office adds an additional measure of comfort, according to Parker.

“We do in-office surgery for all of our patients requiring cataract extraction, and that has made a huge difference,” Parker said. “The whole process, from start to finish, takes about an hour, and that includes check-in and check-out.”

When patients go to a hospital for their surgery, the procedure “feels like a big deal”; in contrast, in-office surgeries allow patients to be somewhere familiar where they are comfortable, Parker said.

“People get the idea that if they are going to the hospital, they are getting something serious done, but if they are going to the office, it’s probably a more minor procedure,” Parker said.

Reference:

• New survey finds critical need for education on cataracts and modern treatment options.https://www.jjvision.com/press-release/new-survey-finds-critical-need-education-cataracts-and-modern-treatment-options。Published Dec. 1, 2020.