One's pursuits into Manual SICS start because of the need to shift to a sutureless technique, to enhance the post-op. results and to avoid being lost in obscurity, without having to invest a fortune in a Phaco machine.
Cataract surgery has been transformed from a simple rehabilitative procedure into an increasingly precise refractive surgery, for primary to the most advanced level of patient care. Manual SICS, an easy and NO additional cost option, fits in at all levels of development and has arguably the same objective as phaco emulsification. The goal is to achieve emmetropia.
Learning and mastering Manual SICS is a MUST, even for a Phaco Surgeon, for times when he has to CONVERT, due to Phaco machine failure, Posterior capsular rupture, Zonular Dialysis, Hard black or brown cataract, or having used too much phaco energy.
Manual SICS is in fact a revolutionary technique that has brought the benefits of small incision, IOL implants and anastigmatism to the Primary and Secondary eye surgery centres of rural & semi-urban India. It is also ideal for teaching institutes, tertiary centres in the Government sector, or wherever finance is a constraint.
Not that there are no complications with Manual SICS, but then these are far and few. This technique has a relatively hazard free, smoother and easier learning curve; rather, I would say there is NO learning curve for one who is already into ECCE and implant surgery.
The charm of Manual SICS is its simplicity and good results.
The faculty at the `Festival of Small Incision Cataract Surgery' at Bangalore in June 2004 on the fringes of the official programmes, deliberated amongst themselves, and decided to form an SICS Club at the national level.
This is a step towards that aim. This mailing group would provide a platform to the Surgeons interested in SICS to interact with each other.