Femtosecond Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery in The NHS

The Development of Surgical Pathways Using Femto-second Laser Technology to Increase the Efficiency and Safety of Cataract Surgery Within a Public Health Sector Setting - A Randomised Controlled Trial

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02825693

Enrollment

400

Registered

2016-07-07

Start date

2016-08-31

Completion date

2018-06-30

Last updated

2020-07-23

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cataract, Surgery

Brief summary

This study aims to examine the health economic impact of adopting femtosecond laser technology to assist high volume cataract surgery (FLACS) within a state-funded healthcare system, the National Health Service (NHS).

Interventions

PROCEDUREConventional cataract surgery (phacoemulsification)

PROCEDUREFemtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Patients must have reduced visual acuity or visual symptoms attributed to the presence of cataract in one or both eyes by the examining ophthalmologist or else must require cataract surgery on clinical grounds other than visual symptoms. * Patients must be willing to attend for follow-up at 1 month after cataract surgery. * Patients must be sufficiently fluent in English for informed consent and self-completion of the patient reported outcome questionnaires.

Exclusion criteria

* Children below the age of 18 * Already enrolled in another study The principle

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Cost-analysis: Healthcare resource use attributable to managing patients in this study will be collected.	up to 2 months	These include (but not necessarily be limited to) the cost of surgery for both arms of the trial (including resource use and staffing levels required for the surgical protocols), resource use attributable to managing complications arising from surgery, all relevant diagnostic investigations, further surgery where necessary, hospital length of stay and ward type, outpatient attendances, procedures performed on an outpatient basis, Accident & Emergency attendances and prescribed drug medications. The quantity of resource use for each cost component will be measured from medical records. Site-specific unit costs will be taken in preference of standard published sources or national tariffs where possible.

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026