Articles related to PRACTICE PEARLS

When asked whether interventional oncology (IO) has established itself as the fourth pillar of oncology, three eminent interventional oncologists agreed that it is an “ongoing process.” They talked about how to ensure that IOs have a voice in cancer treatment:

Christen Fuller, MD, describes her approach to the often-conflicted situation. One of her keys? “Know your own limitations.” Another? Don’t let the frequency of the patient coming in for pain management lead you into defensiveness and minimizing their pain.

Chalazia are very typical eyelid lesions that most optometrists often treat. There are several treatment choices, with incision and curettage being a great in-office surgical option that often produces the best outcomes with the most patient satisfaction. The chalazion incision and curettage surgery is particularly satisfying to carry out since patients respond well to it and typically see a noticeable improvement in the appearance of their eyelid from preoperative to postoperative times. A piece of advice for an optometrist who is just beginning to undertake in-office treatments is to complete a number of other procedures first to gain experience performing them on simpler removals before beginning chalazion incision and curettage.

How to get parents to agree to have their kids undergo orthokeratology (ortho-k) is covered by Cary Herzberg, OD. The key to gaining parent support for ortho-k is to pinpoint the individual obstacles and create and organize a plan of action to get beyond them. The OD must fully understand the specialty in order to achieve this, and when speaking with patients, they must build conversations and talking points.

For some of the most often applied treatments for meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), such as imaging, exfoliation therapy, heat therapy, strong pulsed light therapy, and meibomian probing, Myranda Partin, OD, offers advice, coding, and reimbursement information.

Studies have shown that up to 74% of patients who stopped wearing contact lenses can be persuaded to resume wearing if their concerns are satisfactorily addressed, despite the fact that studies have shown that up to 50% of contact lens wearers may stop wearing within the first three years. Simply put, these patients require eyecare professionals who are willing to discuss any concerns they may have and ask the appropriate questions.