Visual and Surgical Outcomes of Outreach Cataract Surgeries in Ilam District of Nepal: An Observational Study

Cataracts are the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. Although cataract blindness is reversible, its service coverage remains poor, particularly in rural and hilly areas of Nepal. The study aimed to evaluate visual outcomes of outreach cataract surgeries and associated intraoperative and post-operative complications.

This cross-sectional study was conducted at a district of Eastern Nepal after ethical clearance was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 88). Total 131 subjects had cataract surgeries at the surgical camp, and their pre-operative, one-day and one-month post-operative visual acuities were compared, and intraoperative and post-operative surgical complications were recorded. Visual acuity ≥ 6/12 was considered normal. Data was collected in excel and analyzed in SPSS.

The mean age of participants was 71.8 ± 9.51 years, with 70 (53.43%) male. A total of 156 eyes from 131 subjects underwent cataract surgeries and among them 25 (19.08%) cases underwent bilateral cataract surgeries. At the day one of surgery, visual acuity improved to normal in 137 (87.82%) of cases, while after one-month, visual acuity improved to normal in 150 (96.15%) of cases with best-corrected glasses. There were 4 (2.56%) intraoperative complications, which included surgery-induced subluxated bag, premature entry, iris trauma, and posterior capsule rent.

The visual and surgical outcomes of cataract surgeries performed at an outreach surgical camp were excellent with minimal surgical complications.