Visual Outcomes of Phacoemulsification in Senile Cataract Patients in Purworejo Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose: There was still limited study about the success rate of phacoemulsification in Indonesia, although it has been widely used. This study aimed to assess the visual acuity based on the characteristics of patients with senile cataract who underwent phacoemulsification. Study Design: Descriptive observational. Place and Duration of Study: Panti Waluyo Hospital, Purworejo from January to November 2019. Methods: This included 58 senile cataract patients (70 eyes) who underwent phacoemulsification. Basic patient characteristics such as: age, gender, cataract stages, comorbidity and pre- and postoperative visual acuity were taken from medical records. The visual acuity was measured pre-and postoperatively using Snellen Chart. The data were analyzed using a descriptive analysis method. Results: There were 23 men and 35 women who underwent phacoemulsification during the study period. Seventy six percent were 60 – 74 years old. Eighty percent had immature cataract. Half of the patients did not have any comorbidity of diabetes mellitus or hypertension. There were 45 (64.3%) eyes with moderate to severe visual impairment (vision 6/18 – ≥ 3/60) and 25 (35.7%) eyes with blindness (vision < 3/60). The postoperative vision of 57 eyes (81.4%) improved to a good outcome. Thirteen eyes (18.6%) were categorized as borderline outcome. No eyes were reported to have poor outcome post-surgery. Conclusion: The postoperative visual acuity of cataract patients who underwent phacoemulsification was classified as good outcome (81.4%) and borderline outcome (18.6%). In this study, there was no poor visual outcome found.