[Management and functional results of traumatic cataract in the central region of Togo]

Traumatic cataract is a serious condition because it can cause partial or total vision loss. Our study aims to assess the postoperative functional outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for traumatic cataract in the Central region of Togo.

We conducted a retrospective study based on the analysis of medical records of patients who underwent surgical treatment for traumatic cataract in hospital based and outreach eye care services between 1 January 2009 and 30 June 2011.

Out of a total of 1086 cases with cataract undergoing surgery during this period, 131 (12.06%) had traumatic cataract. The average age was 30.01 ± 16.61 years, ranging betrween 5 and 70 years, 85% of patients underwent implantation with good or average success rates of 66% after correction in the first postoperative day (according to WHO classification). At two months follow up, 85% of patients had visual acuity above 3/10.

Despite micro-ophthalmic surgery advances, access to traumatic cataract surgery remains difficult for both the patient and the practitioner, especially in developing countries. For these reasons priority must be given to ocular trauma prevention.