Outcome of age related cataract surgery at Lighthouse for Christ Eye Centre, Mombasa

Abstract

Objective: To establish the outcome of age related cataract surgery at Mombasa Light House for Christ Eye Centre, from 1st January 2009 to 31st Dec 2011. Methods: This was a retrospective hospital based case series conducted at Light House for Christ Eye Centre, Mombasa. Data was abstracted from theatre registers and files of patients 50 years old and above, who had undergone cataract surgery for age related cataract. Data of the patient, was captured using a standardized structured questionnaire and analysed using STATA Version 11.0. Descriptive and bivariate analysis was carried out. Results: Of the 1140 eye records analysed, 28.1% and 59.6% were severely visually impaired and blind, respectively pre-operatively. The UCVA at day one was 6/18 or better in 14.9% eyes and improved to 33.3% at week 7. The BCVA at week 4 was 6/18 or better, in 79.1% eyes and improved to 81.25% at week 7, while BCVA worse than 6/60, was 2.1% at week 7. Intra-operative complications were 6.4%, with posterior capsular tear without vitreous loss accounting for the majority, at 2.5%. 99.7% of the operated eyes had undergone biometry. The major cause of poor visual outcome was uncorrected refractive errors at 48.5%. Lack of surgical complications was found to be statistically significant in not having poor outcome (p-value 0.008) Conclusion: Post–op BCVA was found to be lower than the WHO recommendations, while intra-op surgical complications were found to be within WHO recommendations. Regular monitoring of cataract outcome will aid in identifying gaps and improving the visual outcomes.