TITLE:
Development of a Six Sigma Infrastructure for Trabeculectomy Process
AUTHORS:
Can Öztürker, İbrahim Şahbaz, Zeynep Karaarası Öztürker, Mehmet Tolga Taner, Şükrü Bayraktar, Gamze Kağan
KEYWORDS:
Six Sigma, Ophthalmology, Trabeculectomy, Complications
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Operations Research,
Vol.4 No.4,
July
10,
2014
ABSTRACT: The aim of this article is to show how an eye clinic of a Turkish public
hospital initiated Six Sigma principles to reduce the number of complications
encountered during and after trabeculectomy surgeries. Data were collected for
ten years. To analyse the process, main tools of Six Sigma’s Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control
(DMAIC) improvement cycle such as SIPOC Table, Failure, Mode and Effect
Analysis were implemented. Sources and root causes of ten types of
complications were identified and reported. Patient’s eye anatomy, experience
of ophthalmic surgeon, quality of surgical equipment, quality and type of
suture, and experience of staff were identified to be Critical-to-Quality
(CTQ) factors for a successful surgery. The most frequently occurring
complication was found to be hypotony. The process sigma level of the process
was measured to be 3.1391. The surgical team concluded that ten complications
(out of twelve) should be significantly reduced by taking the necessary
preventative measures.