Practice patterns among ophthalmic surgeons in treating concomitant oculoplastic conditions in preoperative period: A questionnaire-based study

Table 1 The demographic characteristics of the participants and responses to the survey questions, n (%)

Parameters	n = 180
Age of the ophthalmologist (in years)
< 30	4 (2.2)
30-40	98 (54.4)
40-50	49 (27.2)
> 50	29 (16.1)
Gender
Male	86 (47.8)
Female	94 (52.2)
Years of practice
< 5	24 (13.3)
5-10	73 (40.6)
10-20	53 (29.4)
> 20	30 (16.7)
Area of practice
Rural	8 (4.4)
Urban	106 (58.9)
Semi-urban	35 (19.4)
Metropolitan	31 (17.2)
Type of hospital
Govt. hospital	33 (18.3)
Private practice	69 (38.3)
Single institution practice with teaching	43 (23.9)
Trust hospital with large volume of surgeries	35 (19.4)
Which part of the India do you practice in clinically
North zone	30 (16.7)
East zone	75 (41.7)
South zone	60 (33.3)
West zone	15 (8.3)
Comprehensive ophthalmologist
Yes	109 (60.6)
No	71 (39.4)
Exposure into common oculoplastic disorders
I don’t treat and refer them to a specialist	78 (43.8)
I have an interest in oculoplasty and treat simple conditions	52 (29.2)
I treat all common oculoplastic but more interested in sub-specialty	19 (10.7)
My practice is exclusively sub-specialty based	29 (16.3)
NLD patency testing prior to sub-specialty surgery
Yes, irrigation in all cases	79 (44.1)
Yes, checking for ROPLAS is sufficient	89 (49.7)
No, NLD patency testing is not required	11 (6.2)
NLD obstruction detected during preoperative evaluation
Dacryocystectomy	18 (10)
Dacryocystorhinostomy	114 (63.3)
Punctal cautery in cases of partial regurgitation of clear fluid	24 (13.3)
Planned ocular surgery in asymptomatic NLDO	24 (13.3)
Not sure	4 (2.2)
Partial NLD detected during pre-op evaluation
Dacryocystectomy	6 (3.4)
Dacryocystorhinostomy	18 (10.2)
Punctal cautery in cases of partial regurgitation of clear fluid	48 (27.1)
Planned ocular surgery in asymptomatic NLDO	90 (50.8)
Not sure	15 (8.5)
Minimum gap that you prefer prior to allowing a sub-specialty surgery after dacryocystorhinostomy
< 1 week	1 (0.6)
2 weeks	49 (27.5)
4 weeks	85 (47.7)
6 weeks	40 (22.5)
Not sure	3 (1.7)
Minimum gap that you prefer prior to allowing a sub-specialty surgery after dacryocystectomy
< 1 week	10 (5.6)
2 weeks	69 (38.8)
4 weeks	70 (39.3)
6 weeks	19 (10.7)
Not sure	10 (5.6)
Treat any stye/chalazion/canaliculitis before performing your subspecialty ophthalmic procedure
Yes, in all cases	150 (84.7)
Yes, in selective cases	24 (13.6)
No, because they do not pose any risk of infection	1 (0.6)
No, because procedure may delay planed surgery	2 (1.1)
Waiting time after treating stye/chalazion/canaliculitis before performing
< 1 week	47 (26.3)
2 weeks	81 (45.3)
4 weeks	13 (7.3)
6 weeks	33 (18.4)
Not sure	5 (2.8)
Treat co-existing entropion and ectropion before procedure
Yes, in all cases	77 (43)
Yes, in selective cases	66 (36.9)
No, because they do not pose any risk of infection	14 (7.8)
No, because procedure may delay planed surgery	17 (9.5)
Not sure	5 (2.8)
Waiting time after ocular surgery
< 1 week	7 (3.9)
2 weeks	56 (31.3)
4 weeks	69 (38.6)
6 weeks	20 (11.2)
Not sure	27 (15.1)
Treat coexisting thyroid eye disease before performing your ocular surgeries
Yes, in all cases	53 (29.6)
Yes, in selective cases	85 (47.5)
No, because they don’t pose any intra-operative problem	27 (15.1)
No, because procedure may delay planed surgery	7 (3.9)
Not sure	7 (3.9)
Treat coexisting ptosis before performing your ocular surgeries
Yes, in all cases	16 (8.9)
Yes, in selective cases	105 (58.7)
No, because they don’t pose any intra-operative problem	41 (22.9)
No, because procedure may delay planned surgery	12 (6.7)
Not sure	5 (2.3)
Waiting time after ptosis repair
< 1 week	3 (1.7)
2 weeks	34 (19.2)
4 weeks	75 (42.4)
6 weeks	34 (19.2)
Not sure	31 (17.5)
Anesthesia preferred prior to any surgery in thyroid eye disease patients
Topical	67 (38.3)
Peri-bulbar	52 (29.7)
Sub-tenon	42 (24)
Don’t know	11 (6.3)
Topical + sub-tenon	1 (0.6)
Retro-bulbar	2 (1.1)

NLD: Nasolacrimal duct; NLDO: Nasolacrimal duct obstruction.