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Vision & the Ageing Surgeon: A Review.
Lloyd R Kopecny1, Ashish Agar2,3, Shing Wai Wong1,2
1Department of General Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
ANZ Journal of Surgery
|June 10, 2025
Summary
As surgeons age, vision changes like cataracts and presbyopia can impact surgical performance. This review explores age-related eye conditions and visual aids for senior surgeons.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Geriatric Medicine
- Surgical Science
Background:
- The global population is aging, leading to an increasing number of senior surgeons in the workforce.
- Maintaining optimal vision is critical for surgical precision, but age-related visual decline is inevitable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the effects of aging on the eye, focusing on visual changes relevant to senior surgeons.
- To identify age-related eye diseases and physiological changes that may affect surgical visualization and performance.
- To appraise visual aids and technologies that can support operative visualization in aging surgeons.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of age-related ocular diseases (cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy).
- Analysis of physiological ocular changes associated with normal aging (presbyopia, senile miosis, reduced contrast sensitivity, impaired binocular vision).
- Evaluation of assistive technologies for surgical visualization (magnification, illumination, fluorescent dyes).
Main Results:
- Age-related eye diseases and physiological changes can impair visualization during surgery for elderly surgeons.
- These visual impairments may potentially impact overall surgical performance.
- Current assistive technologies offer potential support but require consideration of age-specific visual deficits.
Conclusions:
- Evidence-based visual standards for safe surgical practice are lacking.
- Future prospective studies are needed to correlate surgeon visual function with postoperative outcomes.
- Research should guide age-based visual assessments to improve surgical safety and outcomes.
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