title: Refractive stabilization and corneal swelling after cataract surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the earliest time after cataract surgery when corneal swelling and automated refraction are stabilized sufficiently to allow reliable refractive prescription.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospective, nonrandomized, case series study of 124 consecutive eyes undergoing uneventful cataract surgery. Automated refraction and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements were made at baseline before cataract surgery and on follow-up visits 1 day and weekly for 4 weeks afterward. Corneal swelling was determined as the percentage change in CCT after surgery. To determine the validity of automated refraction, it was compared with subjective refraction at the final visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Corneal swelling decreased between the first postsurgical day and the first week and again between postsurgical weeks 1 and 2 (p < 0.01 each). Although thinning continued through the fourth postsurgical week, the changes were not significant. Both spherical and cylindrical refraction were stable 1 week after surgery, with the greatest change between the first postsurgical day and 1 week (p < 0.01). In replicate measurements of automated spherical refraction taken on the last visit, the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.93. For automated cylindrical refraction, it was 0.81.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Automated refraction is highly repeatable and can be used to monitor postsurgical refractive changes. Whereas corneal swelling becomes stable 2 weeks after cataract surgery, automated refraction becomes stable after 1 week and can be used to accurately prescribe corrective lenses at that time.
authors.affiliation: IOBA-Eye Institute, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain. victoria@ioba.med.uva.es
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Juan
authors.forename: José María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Herreras
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Morejón
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Río-Cristóbal
authors.forename: Ana Río-San
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cristóbal
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: Itziar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D019781:Corneal Topography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012029:Refraction, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014945:Wound Healing; D055815:Young Adult