An eye on comfort: positioning a patient for ophthalmic surgery.

1. Because precise microsurgical procedures must be done within an extremely small surgical field, securing the patient's head during such surgery becomes imperative. 2. While the patient is placed in a position convenient for the surgeon, the position must also be comfortable for the patient; a compromise has to be made. 3. The successful outcome of surgery is the goal desired by both the surgeon and the patient. To achieve this, various surgical systems have received attention. Some of these systems attempt to minimize patient discomfort, such as using an air pillow to easily adjust the patient's head into the correct position.