Visual outcomes achieved post cataract surgery at St John Eye Hospital

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that up to 39% of all causes of reversible or avoidable blindness can be attributed to cataracts. Phacoemulsification with insertion of an IOL is the most commonly performed type of cataract surgery in developed countries. As surgeon skills improve and phacoemulsification gains ground, more patients affected by cataracts are being offered this form of surgery in developing countries. St John Eye Hospital is a tertiary hospital for the training of ophthalmologists. Of a total of 1985 cataract surgeries performed at St John Eye Hospital during 2014, the ratio of extracapsular cataract extraction to phacoemulsification performed is approximately 2:1. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the visual acuity outcomes achieved post operatively by patients that have undergone phacoemulsification with insertion of an IOL. To compare post phacoemulsification visual acuity outcomes to standards recommended by the World Health Organisation. DESIGN AND METHOD: A retrospective clinical audit of 100 random patient records having undergone phacoemulsification with insertion of an IOL and meeting inclusion criteria between 01 February 2015 and 31 January 2016 at St John Eye Hospital, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital was conducted.RESULTS: A total of 100 records of patients with a history of uncomplicated phacoemulsification with insertion of an IOL were randomly selected. Of these patients, 58% (n=58) were female patients, 42% (n=42) were males. The average age of all patients was 66.7 years. A total of 93% (n=93) of the surgeries were conducted by junior surgeons (registrars undergoing training) and 7% (n=7) by senior (consultant ophthalmologists) surgeons. A total of 82% (n=82) of the total 100 participants achieved an uncorrected visual acuity of between logMAR 0-0.5 with an average vision of logMAR 0.28. Eighteen percent (n=18) of patients achieved an uncorrected visual acuity of between logMAR 0.6-1.0 with an average of 0.99 logMAR 0.99. The mean visual acuity of all 100 patients was logMAR 0.36.