Ophthalmology Against The Rule

Spherical aberration is a term often used in ophthalmology and optometry, especially in relation to lens surgeries and intraocular lens design. Recently, IOL manufacturers have been manipulating spherical aberration as a tool to provide a greater range of vision, but rarely explaining the mechanism. Your OATR hosts, Dr Nick Andrew and Dr Ben LaHood, as always, discuss the simple things often overlooked and the complex things often ignored in the eye world. They take a deep dive into spherical aberration of the eye to provide you with a better understanding of an increasingly important topic for ophthalmologists and optometrists.

Disassembling the lens nucleus is a crucial step during cataract surgery. Different techniques may be better suited to different cataract types, require more skill and ultimately make a difference in visual recovery and corneal health. Your Ophthalmology Against The Rule hosts take a detailed look at the MiLoop technique and discuss the pros and cons of various phaco options including femto laser assisted, divide and conquer, and chop. As you'll hear, just like with nuclear fission, with great power comes great responsibility when choosing an option to split the nucleus.

Ophthalmologists are performing cataract and refractive lens exchange surgery in younger patients. One of the major risks that eye care professionals need to inform these patients about is retinal detachment yet the evidence to quote from has been scarce and confusing. How age, axial length, gender, and laser capsuotomy, impact the risk needs to be taken into account. So, your OATR hosts, Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew take a deep dive into the topic to clarify what we should be considering and discussing with our patients before performing lens surgery. 

Antiseptic preparation of the eye is an absolutely vital step of cataract surgery in order to prevent infection. This treatment must be balanced with minimising harm to the ocular surface. In true OATR style, we take a detailed look at the pros and cons of traditional iodine and more modern chlorhexidine antiseptic solutions. Getting these seemingly minor steps optimised helps to optimise outcomes for patients.

Treating dry eye disease is difficult. Trying to treat dry eye disease based on evidence can seem even harder. Omega-3 fatty acid supplements have been on a rollercoaster of popularity in treating dry eye. Evidence appeared to swing from indicating huge benefit to being similar to placebo. Your hosts, Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew analyse the key studies to unravel all an optometrist or ophthalmologist needs to know about Omega-3 supplements to treat dry eye patients optimally. All this, along with the OATR entertainment you know and love.

Oh, you thought we were finished talking about narrow angles? We were just getting warmed up! In this OATR episode, your hosts Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew provide practical tips on interventions for treating narrow angles. Everything from tips on laser iridotomy to IOL calculation in short eyes. Part of our motto is "the simple things often overlooked" and this is definitely one of those topics that is rarely discussed but can make a huge difference to patient happiness and outcomes.

OATR Season 2 is launched with everything you ever wanted to know about narrow angles. We had a lot to catch up on so if you're short on time, the main topic starts at 28 minutes! We received so many questions about narrow angles and glaucoma, cataract surgery, iridotomies and more that it was time your hosts Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew covered this popular topic, as always with an evidence based approach for optometrists, ophthalmologists and all eye care professionals.

OATR is back for 2021 and we are kicking things off in style with everyone's favourite topic - astigmatism! There are a lot of rumours, myths and arguments around the topic of residual astigmatism after cataract surgery. Some say it gives a depth of focus; that it may be functionally beneficial; or that you can't do much about it as you should not flip the axis. Well your trusty OATR hosts, Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew are here to consider the evidence and see whether we need to rid the world of residual astigmatism. Listen in to hear the verdict and learn some tips to improve astigmatic outcomes.

Myopia progression is a major concern in the worlds of optometry, ophthalmology and the world in general with a predicted 5 billion people being myopic by 2050. The concern is not just needing glasses, but retinal detachment, myopic macula degeneration and blindness. The evidence for how to slow down myopia progression, especially around atropine dosing has been murky. So your hosts Dr Ben LaHood and Dr Nick Andrew clear up the evidence and discuss why treatment is so important.

Your Ophthalmology Against The Rule hosts bring you everything you ever wanted to know about PCO from prevention during cataract surgery, influences of IOL design and surgery technique, through to management with YAG posterior capsulotomy. This topic will be of interest to optometrists and ophthalmologists as capsule opacity is a common reason for referral. The growth in numbers of multifocal and premium lenses being implanted means that it is more important than ever to think about how to safely manage PCO and maintain optimal vision for your patients.