[Phacoemulsification: advantages of a consultation the day after surgery?]

Cataract surgery is the most frequent surgery in France. The D1 consultation limits the extension of ambulatory care to patients who can return on their own the day after sugery. We assessed the usefulness of this systematic D1 consultation in terms of therapeutic modifications. MATERIAL AND MéTHODE: Retrospective study of patients who underwent cataract surgery in a teaching hospital from february to july 2006. The major parameter was the modification of postsurgical treatment after the D1 consultation.

Of the 380 operated eyes studied, the patients included 145 men and 235 women, the mean age was 73.8 years (range, 43-92), 86% underwent conventional hospitalization, 70% had been operated by a senior surgeon, and 66% had no suture. At the D1 visit, 11 modifications (2.9%) were recorded: one case of athalamia, one Seidel-positive test, four cases of high IOP (>30mmHg), and five severe inflammations of the anterior segment. All the treatment changes were reported in the group of hospitalized patients, none were reported in the ambulatory patients. Of the 380 eyes studied, only one required sutures at D1, the other treatment changes were minor.

The low output of the D1 visit raises the problem of its relevance in terms of public health. In most of the English-speaking and Scandinavian countries, patients have only one postoperative visit at 1 month. Patients could receive written and oral recommendations and a hotline number to contact the surgical team, which could allow the D1 visit to be discontinued for standard patients with uncomplicated surgery.