ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to determine the clinical presentation, mode of injury, surgical, and postoperative outcomes in adult patients with traumatic cataract. This is a clinical, observational, and retrospective study with review of records of patients in the period 2010-2012. Eighty patients were included, of whom 67 (83.75 %) were male. The mean age at presentation was 46 years (range 18-82 years). Sixty-four patients (80 %) had a closed-globe blunt ocular trauma and 16 (20 %) had an open-globe penetrating trauma. Seventy-seven (96.25 %) patients underwent phacoemulsification; 13.7 % (n = 11) required placement of capsular tension rings and 22.5 % (n = 18) automated anterior vitrectomy. In 53 % of the cases the intraocular lens (IOL) was placed in the capsular bag. Forty-seven patients (58.75 %) achieved a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better. In 57 (71.25 %) the final refraction was obtained, with a mean spherical equivalent of -0.56D (range -3.50D to +2.00 D). The improvement in visual acuity was significantly higher when the IOL was placed in the capsular bag compared to when it was placed in the sulcus (average difference of 0.667, p = 0.001). The most common mechanism of trauma is closed globe. Phacoemulsification was the procedure most common performed, with the IOL placed most commonly in the capsular bag. The final best-corrected visual acuity in most patients was 20/40 or better. Placing the IOL in the capsular bag represented an improvement in visual acuity compared to placement in the sulcus.
