Cataract Surgery in Asian Countries – An Overview.

Cataract, the leading cause of blindness in the world, is treated with surgery, and is the most common eye surgery performed. A PubMed search was done to review the spectrum of practice of cataract surgeries in Asian countries. Coverage for surgeries varied in different countries which depends mainly on the surgical facilities available in the region or country. Outreach programs, free surgeries and reimbursement of transport influence this. The cost of cataract surgery depends on type of cataract operation, government/private hospital, and facilities provided in the hospital, day care/in patient surgery, and economic status of people in the region/country. Phaco surgery was more expensive than extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and manual small incision cataract surgery (SICS). Intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) was cheaper than ECCE in India. Local anaesthesia (retrobulbar, peribulbar, subtenon and topical) is used compared to general anaesthesia. Pain was more in topical compared to regional anaesthesia though no pain was reported for phacoemulsification under topical. Several manouveres have been utilised in difficult cases to optimise the outcomes. These include invention and modification of instruments, phacodynamic settings and surgical techniques. Specific regimes for pupillary dilatation have been recommended. In Diabetics, trenching was difficult. Elimination of cotton balls reduced fibres in the anterior chamber. Innovations in intraocular lenses (IOL) are glued IOL, Artisan iris fixated IOL, intrascleral fixation of IOL with Y sutures. Visual outcomes varied based on techniques of surgeries and types of IOLs used. The advancement of techniques and instrumentation has benefited patients with cataracts by improving outcomes.

The temerloh hospital cataract complications study:factors associated with, types and outcomes of cataract surgery complications / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To study the prevalence of complications of cataract surgery and any association between the occurrence of complications and experience of surgeon, type of surgery, type of anaesthesia and visual outcome.METHODS: This was a retrospective study of patients who underwent cataract surgery over a period of two years in a district hospital in Malaysia. The demographic details of patients, type of surgery done, as well as type of anaesthesia used and experience of the surgeon were noted. The types of intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded. The final best corrected visual outcome was recorded. RESULTS:Complications occurred in 11. 1% of the total 1007 patients operated. Posterior capsule rupture (3. 6%) was the most common complication. The experience of the surgeon and the type of anaesthesia used did not affect complications during surgery. Intracapsular cataract extraction ( ICCE ) and phacoemulsification converted to extracapsular cataract extraction ( ECCE ) were significantly associated with more complications ( P CONCLUSION: The occurrence of complications during cataract surgery significantly affected the visual outcome. The type of surgery done was associated by the occurrence of complications. However, the experience of the surgeon and the type of anaesthesia used did not affect the occurrence of complications. We recommend that particular attention be given to ICCE and phacoemulsification converted to ECCE to minimise the complications and thereby reducing the chances of poor vision postoperatively.

Posterior Capsule Rupture during Phacoemulsification among Patients with Pseudoexfoliation–Is There A Correlation?

This study was done to correlate the occurrence of posterior capsule rupture among patients with pseudoexfoliation during phacoemulsification. This was a retrospective audit of patients who underwent phacoemulsification type cataract surgery from January 2011 to December 2012 in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Data was obtained from the National Eye Database (NED) of Malaysia. The data was analysed using SPSS version 21.0. By using logistic regression analysis, it was found that there was no significant increase in the occurrence of posterior capsule rupture among patients with pseudoexfoliation. Hence, we concluded that there was no correlation between the occurrence of posterior capsule rupture and the presence of pesudoexfoliation among patients who underwent phacoemulsification.