INEXPENSIVE IRRIGATION You don't need BSS to clear the eye after laser work, when sterile saline will do.

STERILE SALINE VS. BSS
A Cost-Effective Irrigation Alternative

The use of a YAG laser to treat cataracts or an SLT laser to treat glaucoma requires the placement of a contact lens on the operative eye to focus the laser and to prevent the patient from blinking. Goniosol is applied first to cushion the eye beneath the lens. It's a thick, goopy solution, so it's necessary to irrigate the eye after the procedure to clear it.

Oftentimes surgeons reach for balanced salt solution to irrigate, and BSS will do the job, but it's expensive: $7 to $10 for 5ml to 10ml of the high-grade, safe-for-intraocular-use fluid. Since I'm just irrigating the outside of the eye, sterile saline works just as well, and is much more cost effective: $5 for 100ml. That's about a tenfold difference in cost.

Paul Chen, MD
Center for Surgery of Encinitas
Carlsbad, Calif.
[email protected]