More Than 10 Years of Experience With Simultaneous Bilateral Cataract Extraction
Purpose
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of simultaneous bilateral cataract extraction (SBCE) with respect to indications, visual outcomes, complications, benefits and disadvantages.
Methods
In this retrospective study all simultaneous bilateral cataract surgeries performed at our hospital from April 2000 through September 2013 were included. A total of 250 patients (156 (62.4%) women) with a mean age of 80.4 years, SD ± 9.9 (range 26-106) were enrolled. Of these 500 eyes, 472 (94.4%) had a straight forward phacoemulsification with PCL-implantation, 21 (4.2%) had a planned extracapsular cataract extraction, 4 (0.8%) had an intracapsular cataract extraction and 3 (0.6%) had a combined phacoemulsification with trabeculectomy.
Results
Over 66% of eyes achieved improved visual acuity (at least 3 Snellen lines) following SBCE. Medium preoperative best corrected visual acuity was 0.5 LogMAR, the interquartile range was [0.4, 1] LogMAR. At one week control the medium BCVA was 0.3 LogMAR, IQR [0.1, 0.5] LogMAR. At one month the medium BCVA was 0.15 LogMAR, IQR [0.05, 0.3] (p <0.01). There were no sight-threatening intraoperative or postoperative complications observed.
Conclusion
SBCE may be an effective and safe option with high degree of patient satisfaction. The relative benefits of SBCE should be balanced against the theoretically enhanced risks of simultaneous bilateral surgery.