[Emphasis on perioperative ocular surface management in cataract surgery]

Cataract surgery has fully evolved from traditional vision-restoring surgery to refractive cataract surgery, highlighting the growing clinical importance of maintaining perioperative ocular surface microenvironment homeostasis. Based on the"Chinese expert consensus on prevention and treatment of dry eye disease during perioperative period of cataract surgery (2021)" and with further in-depth exploration, this article elaborates on four aspects: the relationship between the imbalance of the ocular surface microenvironment homeostasis and dry eye disease during the perioperative period of cataract, the impact of the imbalance on the whole process of refractive cataract extraction surgery, the standardized assessment of the ocular surface status during the perioperative period, and the implementation path of managing the ocular surface microenvironment homeostasis. It emphasizes that perioperative management should focus on preserving ocular surface homeostasis and establishing a comprehensive strategy-preoperative optimization, intraoperative protection, and postoperative repair. This approach aims to provide new insights for clinical practice and further improve the visual quality and patient satisfaction following cataract surgery.