title: Visual outcome and complications following intracapsular and extracapsular cataract extraction. A prospective, controlled follow-up study.
abstract: We followed two comparable groups of patients operated on for cataract immediately before and after a transition from intracapsular extraction with an anterior chamber lens to extracapsular technique with a posterior chamber lens. Both groups consisting of 69 eyes of 69 patients were invited to follow-up examinations 4 months and 2 1/2 years after surgery. The visual acuity was similar in the two groups at the two follow-up examinations. Significantly more eyes in the intracapsular group showed either a rise in intraocular pressure or received anti-glaucomatous medications at the latest follow-up. YAG-laser capsulotomy had been performed in 14.5% of the 69 extracapsularly operated eyes. There was a trend towards more intra-operative and cumulative post-operative complications in the intracapsular group, but this difference was not statistically significant. We conclude, that both intracapsular and extracapsular cataract extraction are followed by such low incidences of post-operative complications, that it will require a very large number of eyes to confirm or reject a possible statistically significant difference in post-operative complication rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Vejle, Denmark.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naeser
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D007910:Lenses, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014792:Visual Acuity