Study of intraoperative challenges and early surgical outcome of phacoemulsification through temporal incision in patients with senile cataract at rural tertiary care hospital.

Abstract

Introduction: Temporal phacoemulsification (Phaco) gives a better surgical outcome in senile cataracts as it nullifies, “against the rule astigmatism” which is common in elderly patients. It is a well-established, effective and safe technique. We conducted this study to verify the surgical outcome of temporal phacoemulsification at a rural tertiary care hospital (RTCH). Aims and Objectives: To study the intra operative and early post-operative complications, post-operative UCVA (Uncorrected Visual Acuity) and BCVA (Best Corrected Visual Acuity) in patients with senile cataract who underwent temporal phacoemulsification.Materials and Methods: In this prospective, hospital-based observational study, we studied intraoperative and postoperative data of 42 patients, above 50 years of age, who underwent temporal phacoemulsification for senile cataracts from August 2019 to May 2020 after obtaining institutional ethical committee approval and written informed consent from all patients. All patients underwent minimum 6 weeks of postoperative follow-up. Results: Out of 42 patients, 57.14% were females and the most common age group was 61-70 years. Intraoperative bleeding was seen in 19.04% of patients and the post-operative mild corneal stromal haze and mild uveitis were seen in 4.76% and 7.14% of patients on a postoperative day 1(POD 1) respectively. Reduction in preoperative “against the rule astigmatism” was seen in 68% of patients. All patients had a UCVA of >6/12 and a BCVA of 6/6 at the last follow-up. Conclusion: Temporal phacoemulsification gives a good UCVA and faster visual rehabilitation in patients with senile cataracts.