Intraocular lens implantation in rural India

We performed 379 extracapsular cataract surgeries with implantation of intraocular lenses (IOLs) in a public eye camp in Ganeshpuri, India (50 miles north of Bombay). Ninety percent (341) of the patients returned for follow up. At 8 weeks postoperatively, 48% of the patients had a visual acuity of 6/18 or better uncorrected; with correction, this figure rises to 71.5%. In general, surgical complications were neither severe nor frequent. More serious difficulties were associated with measuring initial IOL power, obtaining refractive data (including astigmatism), follow up of astigmatism (suture cutting), posterior capsule opacification, and associated preoperative pathology. On the basis of our data, we believe that IOL implantation in public eye camps, under controlled conditions of asepsis and with appropriate instrumentation, is a safe and effective way to provide visual rehabilitation to the rural populations of third-world countries.