Optegra Eye Health Care has become the first UK eye hospital group to introduce drop-free cataract surgery for NHS patients across all its hospitals and clinics.
The approach, which involves administering steroid and antibacterial medication during surgery, removes the need for patients to use multiple eye drops for four weeks post-procedure. According to Optegra, this reduces inconvenience and improves adherence to aftercare.
The group has already treated more than 1,000 patients using the method, reporting a cystoid macular oedema rate of less than 0.3%, compared with 1-3% typically seen with traditional drop regimes. Published evidence from a study of 69,832 patients has also shown a lower risk of macular oedema with ‘dropless’ treatment.
Alastair Stuart, UK medical director and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Optegra (pictured), said many patients had found the drop regime more challenging than the surgery itself. ‘By providing a steroid and antibacterial treatment during the procedure, all this medication is provided in one go, and so once the treatment is complete, the patient can relax without any further action and with the reassurance that all medications have been provided,’ he said.
Optegra has expanded rapidly in NHS cataract provision in recent years. The group carried out 3,000 NHS cataract operations before the pandemic, rising to more than 50,000 last year. It now operates 19 dedicated cataract clinics across the UK.
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