Outcomes of high volume cataract surgeries in a developing country.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the outcome of high volume cataract surgery in a developing country, community based, high volume eye hospital.


METHODS
In a non-comparative interventional case series, the authors reviewed the surgical outcomes of 593 patients with cataract operated upon by three high volume surgeons on six randomly selected days. There were 318 female (54%) and 275 male (46%) patients. Their mean age was 59.57 (SD 10.13) years. The majority of the patients underwent manual small incision cataract surgery (manual SICS). Extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber intraocular lens (ECCE-PCIOL) and intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) were also done on a few patients as clinically indicated.


RESULTS
Best corrected visual acuity of >or=6/18 was achieved in 94% of the 520 patients who could be followed up on the 40th postoperative day (88% follow up rate). Intraoperative and immediate postoperative complications as defined by OCTET occurred in 11 (1.9%) and 75 (12.6%) patients, respectively. Average surgical time of 3.75 minutes per case (16-18 cases per hour) was achieved. Statistically significant risk factors for outcomes were found to be age >60, sex, and surgeon.


CONCLUSIONS
High volume surgery using appropriate techniques and standardised protocols does not compromise quality of outcomes.
Venkatesh
R
R
Aravind Eye Hospital, Tamil Nadu, India.
Muralikrishnan
R
R
Balent
Linda Civerchia
LC
Prakash
S Karthik
SK
Prajna
N Venkatesh
NV
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002386:Cataract / Q000503:physiopathology; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular / Q000379:methods*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009885:Ophthalmology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity; D016526:Workload