Drill from Military to Operating Theater and Safe Reuse of Single-Use Items to Combat the Cost of Optical Fibers and Consumables in Endovenous Laser Ablation of Varicose Veins

Abstract

Introduction: Can the tandem arrangement of operating theater setup to perform a surgical drill similar to military, together with safe reuse of single-use items combat the cost of consumables of endovenous laser ablation (EVLA)? Methods: Operation pathway of EVLA consisted of cleaning and draping of patient (step 1), access to the affected vein and infiltration of tumescent local anesthesia (step 2), endovenous ablation (step 3), ultrasound-guided microfoam sclerotherapy (step 4), and chemical sterilization of consumables (step 5). Dedicated theater lists for EVLA were arranged to treat several patients per session in a prearranged operating theater. When the step 5 is completed on the first patient, the step 1 on the next patient was performed using sterilized optical fiber (OF) as a cycle while minimizing patient changeover time. Number of patients treated with each session of OF and time taken for step 1 to step 4 was recorded and analyzed. Results: A total of 140 patients treated using eight OFs during December 2019 to December 2022. Average number of patients treated with a single OF and during a single session of fiber is 17.5 (9–23) and 4.2 (3–7), respectively. Average time taken for step 1 was 7.83 min, step 2 was 7.95 min, step 3 was 1.57 min, and step 4 was 6.36 min. All the procedures were performed using four chemically re-sterilized guidewires and introducer sheaths. Conclusion: Tandem arrangement of operating theater to perform EVLA procedure similar to military drill can optimize the utilization of OFs and consumables.