Current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan: 1996 survey

A fifth annual survey was carried out by mail in February 1997 to investigate the current trends in cataract and refractive surgery in Japan. A questionnaire was sent to 867 ophthalmologist members of the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Data received from 440 (50.7%) of the recipients were cross-analyzed and compared with those from the previous surveys. For cataract surgery, there have been trends toward more surgical procedures performed by a surgeon, shorter period of hospitalization, and increased number of outpatient surgery. Ninety percent of respondents preferred phacoemulsification, 42% employed the self-sealing wound closure technique, and 26% used topical anesthesia for phacoemulsification. As for refractive surgery, surgeons remained rather conservative, with 26% and 6% of surgeons doing astigmatic keratotomy and refractive keratotomy, respectively.