Impact of Preoperative Testing on Patients Undergoing Ophthalmologic Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Routine medical testing is not recommended before cataract surgery, but no consensus exists about preoperative testing before general ophthalmologic surgery. We aimed to assess the impact of preoperative testing on patients undergoing ophthalmologic surgery by analyzing their surgical outcomes and complications.

We retrospectively reviewed electronic health records of patients who had preoperative evaluations before cataract or noncataract ophthalmologic surgery at a tertiary care center from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2019.

The cohort consisted of 2268 patients (1270 [56.0%] women). The most frequent ophthalmologic procedure was cataract extraction (n = 1450 [63.9%]). Laboratory tests results were available for 489 patients (33.7%) in the cataract group; of these, 275 results (56.2%) had abnormal values, and 18 patients (6.5%) required preoperative interventions. Preoperative test results were available for 772 out of 818 patients (94.4%) having noncataract procedures. Of these, 384 results (49.7%) had abnormal values, and 10 patients (2.6%) required additional intervention. No significant differences were observed for the rate of surgery cancellations between the cataract and noncataract patient groups (0.6% vs 1.0%; P = .24). Of the 12 patients (0.5%) who had complications, all had undergone preoperative testing.

No differences in outcomes and complications were observed among patients who underwent cataract or noncataract surgery. It is reasonable to consider avoiding preoperative testing in patients undergoing ophthalmologic surgery.