Cataract surgery in Ibadan, Nigeria: Visual outcome and post-operative refractive error

Background: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide and can be treated by various surgical techniques with good visual outcome.Objective: To describe the visual outcome and post-operative refractive status among patients who had cataract surgery in a tertiary centre.Methods: In a retrospective study, the demographic data, type of cataract, surgical procedure and complications, visual outcome and post-operative refractive status of the treated eye were retrieved from the hospital records of all adult patients who had cataract surgery.Results: Four hundred and sixty eyes of 456 patients (mean age 61.2 ± 17.3 years, Male: Female = 1.1: 1) had cataract surgery during the study period January 2012 and December 2014. The pre-operative visual acuity was < 3/60 in 415 (90.2%) eyes. All the surgeries were performed under local anaesthesia with 331 (72%) eyes undergoing extracapsular cataract extraction while 129 (28%) had small incision cataract surgery. Visual outcome in those who had a minimum of six weeks follow-up revealed unaided visual acuity of ≥ 6/18 in 185 (56.9%) eyes. Following refraction, 237 (72.9%) eyes had acuity of ≥ 6/18. Post-operative spherical refractive error ranged from ­6.75D to +4.50D (mean -1.61 ± 1.41D) while cylindrical error ranged from 0.00DC to 6.00DC (mean 2.33 ± 1.80DC). Pre-existing ocular problems contributing to poor post-operative visual outcome included glaucoma (50; 15.4%), and age-related macular degeneration (10; 3.1%). Conclusion: Extracapsular cataract extraction gave better visual outcome compared with small incision cataract surgery, but a higher incidence of post-operative cylindrical error was observed

Epidemiology of penetrating eye injury in ibadan: a 10-year hospital-based review

To assess risk factors associated with the occurrence of penetrating ocular injuries among patients presenting to an eye hospital at Ibadan, Nigeria. All cases of penetrating ocular injury presenting over a 10 - year period, were identified by retrospective chart review. All current cases of penetrating ocular injury identified were included. All information was obtained retrospectively from the medical records. The cohort consisted of 135 cases. The follow-up was for an average period of 24.6 weeks [range, 12-312 weeks]. Injuries were most likely to occur at home, in a domestic setting [58%]. The most common mechanism of injury was projectile missiles hitting the eye. The age range for injuries was 9 months to 70 years. Penetrating ocular injury was most frequent in the 20-29 years group [31.9%] followed by the 0-9 years age group [31.1%]. Males were more frequently involved than females [ratio 4:1]. The final acuity was better than 6/18 in 14.8% and less than 3/60 in 59.3% of cases. Penetrating ocular injury occurs, most frequently, in a domestic setting and mostly as a result of working with sharp objects. Preventive measures are recommended to reduce visual disabilities due to ocular injuries