title: Simultaneous bilateral versus sequential bilateral cataract surgery: Helsinki Simultaneous Bilateral Cataract Surgery Study Report 1.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the refractive outcomes, complication rates, and changes in patients' functional state and satisfaction with simultaneous compared with sequential bilateral cataract surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Helsinki University Eye Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients scheduled for bilateral cataract surgery were enrolled based on appropriate inclusion criteria and randomized to be operated on in 1 session (study group) or sequentially (control group) 4 to 6 weeks apart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred ninety-one (94.4%) of the 520 patients completed the study. Of the eyes, 493 (247 patients) had bilateral surgery in 1 session and 506 (257 patients) in separate sessions. In the study group, 240 patients (96.0%) were treated per protocol. In the control group, 250 patients (97.3%) were treated per protocol. The refraction was within ± 0.50 diopter (D) of the target in 67.2% of eyes in the study group and 69.2% of eyes in the control group and within ± 1.00 D in 91.0% and 90.3%, respectively (P = .92). The only complication that affected postoperative visual acuity was chronic cystoid macular edema, which occurred in 1 eye in the study group (0.2%) and in 2 eyes (0.4%) of 1 patient in the control group (P = .57). Ninety-five percent of patients in both groups reported being very satisfied with surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The refractive outcomes, rates of complications, and patient-rated satisfaction were similar whether bilateral cataract surgery was performed simultaneously or sequentially.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
authors.affiliation: Anterior Segment Surgery Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. anna.sarikkola@elisanet.fi
authors.forename: Anna-Ulrika
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Sarikkola
authors.forename: Risto J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Uusitalo
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hellstedt
authors.forename: Sirje-Linda
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ess
authors.forename: Tiina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leivo
authors.forename: Tero
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kivelä
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001699:Biometry; D009877:Endophthalmitis / Q000517:prevention & control; D015817:Eye Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D019591:Pseudophakia / Q000503:physiopathology; D012029:Refraction, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014850:Waiting Lists