A follow-up study on visual outcome after camp-based intracapsular cataract extraction

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Public Health
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Cataract surgery is crucial for restoring vision, especially in underserved populations.
• Intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) is a common surgical procedure for visually impairing cataracts.
• Eye camps provide essential surgical services to remote or low-resource areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the visual outcomes of intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) performed at an eye camp.
• To assess patient satisfaction and its correlation with visual improvement after ICCE.
• To determine the effectiveness of ICCE in improving daily living activities.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective evaluation of 164 ICCE procedures in 158 patients.
• Preoperative and postoperative visual acuity measurements (Snellen's lines).
• Assessment of patient-reported outcomes including mobility and housework ability at 6 weeks.

Main Results:

• 93.3% of patients had preoperative visual acuity worse than 3/60.
• Postoperatively, 84.7% achieved vision better than 3/60 by day 4/5, and 84.1% by 6 weeks.
• At 6 weeks, 44.1% had visual acuity better than 6/18, and 46.4% had corrected visual acuity better than 6/18.
• Patient satisfaction correlated better with the number of Snellen's lines improved than with the final visual acuity.

Conclusions:

• ICCE is an effective procedure for significantly improving visual acuity in patients undergoing surgery at eye camps.
• The functional improvement and patient satisfaction are strongly linked to the degree of visual gain achieved.
• ICCE contributes positively to patients' quality of life by enhancing mobility and daily task performance.