Outcomes of cataract surgery at teaching hospital in Karachi

To assess outcomes of cataract surgery at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.

This retrospective study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and comprised data of patients who underwent cataract surgery from January 2011 to December 2015. The data was collected using guidelines based on World Health Organisation systems for quality monitoring. Postoperative follow-up was done at 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks and after 12 weeks. Visual acuity was recorded as good (6/6-6/18), borderline (6/18-6/60) and poor (<6/60). Intraoperative and postoperative complications were also noted.

Of the 570 patient charts reviewed, 527(92.45%) were included in the study. Among them, 302(57.4%) were females and 225(42.6%) were males. The overall mean age of patients was 59.8±7.2 years. There were 275(52.2%) right eyes, 382(72.5%) were myope and the remaining 145(27.5%) were hypermetrope. There were 315(59.6%) patients who suffered from different systemic diseases, with diabetes mellitus being on the top of list followed by hypertension. Pre-operative best corrected visual acuity was good in 35(6.7%) patients, borderline in 355(67.4%), and poor in 137(25.9%).

The surgical outcomes were comparable with previous studies.