Immediately sequential phacoemulsification performed under topical anaesthesia as day case procedures

Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review aims to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) based on recent studies, illustrate the safety of this approach, the cost-effectiveness, and present the importance of inclusion protocols for the best results.

RECENT FINDINGS

In recent studies, the authors found no evidence of an increased risk of bilateral devastating complications such as endophthalmitis with ISBCS based on descriptive evidence compared to delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS). Furthermore, recent studies on cost analyses showed that ISBCS resulted in fewer costs and significant cost savings to third-party payers, patients, and society compared to DSBCS.

SUMMARY

The ISBCS surgical approach decreases hospital visits, reduces costs, and provides rapid visual rehabilitation and neuro adaptation. The risk of bilateral simultaneous complications is now recognized to be very rare with intracameral antibiotics and compliance with correct protocols. With new generations of optical biometry and lens calculation formulas, refractive surprises are occasional for normal eyes. However, refractive surprise is controversial, especially in the implantation of presbyopia correction intra-ocular lenses, which must be evaluated carefully in the ISBCS approach.

Outcomes of LASIK vs PRK enhancement in eyes with prior cataract surgery

PURPOSE

To compare postenhancement visual acuity between patients who underwent postcataract laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) or photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

SETTING

A private, tertiary referral practice in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

DESIGN

3-year, retrospective chart review.

METHODS

Patients who underwent postcataract extraction excimer laser enhancement surgery targeted for emmetropia (±0.50 diopter). Postenhancement uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE) was recorded for all available follow-ups and compared for both groups.

RESULTS

822 postcataract enhanced eyes (491 LASIK; 331 PRK). For patients with at least 6-month follow-up, mean UDVA was 0.05 ± 0.13 logMAR in LASIK-enhanced patients and 0.15 ± 0.20 in PRK-enhanced patients ( P < .001). Mean absolute value MRSE was 0.22 ± 0.36 and 0.48 ± 0.62 for LASIK-enhanced and PRK-enhanced patients at or beyond 6 months, respectively ( P < .001). 330 (67%) LASIK-enhanced patients achieved 20/20 or better postenhancement UDVA, compared with 142 (43%) PRK-enhanced patients ( P < .001). Controlling for pre-enhancement UDVA, LASIK-enhanced patients showed significantly better postenhancement UDVA than PRK-enhanced patients, except in those with pre-enhancement vision of 20/20 or better, or those worse than 20/50. LASIK-enhanced virgin corneas had mean postenhancement of 0.05 ± 0.14 UDVA compared with 0.13 ± 0.19 UDVA in PRK-enhanced virgin cornea patients ( P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

LASIK provides better and more predictable outcomes in UDVA than PRK in postcataract enhancement patients, even when controlling for pre-enhancement visual acuity and prior ocular procedures.

Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery importance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed types of surgery in the world. Most patients suffer from bilateral cataract and while cataract surgery of only one eye is effective in restoring functional vision, second eye surgery leads to further improvements in health-related quality of life, and is cost effective. At present, most patients undergo cataract surgery in both eyes on separate days, referred to as delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS). An alternative procedure involves operating both eyes on the same day, but as separate procedures, known as immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of ISBCS compared to DSBCS. ISBCS is an important topic in ophthalmology, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic as it is necessary to decrease the hospital visits in order to prevent the contagious risk of this disease. There are well-documented advantages in terms of reduced costs for patients and health-care systems as well as more rapid visual rehabilitation and neuroadaptation. Based on recent studies, the risk of bilateral simultaneous complications is now recognized to be rare with the advent of intracameral antibiotics and strict protocols in this surgical approach. With the use of more sophisticated optical biometry and the newest generation lens calculation, refractive surprises are rare for normal eyes. A widely recognized protocol from the International Society of Bilateral Cataract Surgeons needs to adhere in order to prevent any further complications and obtaining better outcomes.

Immediate bilateral sequential cataract surgery

PURPOSE

There is a constant controversy between performing cataract surgery for one eye or for both eyes in the same surgical session. The objective of this study is to review the scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety, determine the reduction of costs of sequential bilateral cataract surgery on the same day compared to unilateral cataract surgery, as well as to compare the rate of associated complications.

METHODS

A comprehensive search of the PubMed and Web of Science databases has been conducted to identify relevant articles on sequential bilateral cataract surgery from 2000 to 31 of December of 2020.

RESULTS

Literature shows that there is strong evidence demonstrating the efficacy and safety of same-day sequential bilateral cataract surgery. Studies have not found a higher rate of postoperative complications compared to unilateral cataract surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Same-day sequential bilateral cataract surgery is a good surgical option for the resolution of the cataract, provides rapid visual rehabilitation and without greater risks than unilateral surgery. It also provides a reduction in sanitary costs. There is a psychological fear of performing bilateral surgery due to the potential risk of complications that would affect both operated eyes. In this article we discuss the efficacy, safety, complications rate and associated costs in sequential bilateral cataract surgery in the same surgical act.

Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery: an academic teaching center's experience

PURPOSE

To evaluate the safety and outcomes of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) at a Canadian academic teaching center.

SETTING

Tertiary university teaching hospital of Laval University, Quebec City, Canada.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

METHODS

2003 consecutive patients (4006 eyes) who underwent ISBCS under topical anesthesia from January 2019 to December 2019 were included. All charts were retrospectively reviewed. Outcome measures included intraoperative and postoperative complications, postoperative uncorrected distance (UCVA) and pinhole (PHVA) visual acuities, and autorefraction measurements.

RESULTS

4006 eyes from 1218 (60.8%) female and 785 (39.2%) male patients with a mean age of 74 ± 8 years had a mean preoperative visual acuity of 0.503 logMAR (Snellen 20/63). The mean axial length was 23.53 ± 1.37 mm. Most eyes had monofocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) implanted (n = 3738, 93.3%) followed by toric (n = 226, 5.6%), multifocal (n = 25, 0.6%), and multifocal toric (n = 17, 0.4%) IOLs. Intraoperative complications included 14 (0.3%) posterior capsule ruptures with 5 (0.1%) requiring sulcus IOL placement, and 7 (0.2%) partial zonulysis, with 3 requiring capsular tension rings (0.07%). There were no cases of endophthalmitis or toxic anterior segment syndrome. Mean 5-week postoperative UCVA was 0.223 (Snellen 20/33), PHVA was 0.153 (Snellen 20/28) with a mean spherical equivalent of -0.21 diopters.

CONCLUSIONS

ISBCS performed following International Society of Bilateral Cataract Surgeons recommended guidelines is a safe procedure. This cohort of 4006 eyes had very few complications, with none attributable to the surgery being done bilaterally. The UCVA, PHVA, and refractive outcomes were good.

Cost-effectiveness of immediate versus delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery in the Netherlands (the BICAT-NL study): study design of a prospective multicenter randomised controlled trial

Background

Cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed types of surgery. Most patients suffer from bilateral cataract and while cataract surgery of only one eye is effective in restoring functional vision, second-eye surgery leads to further improvements in health-related quality of life, and is cost-effective. At present, most patients undergo cataract surgery in both eyes on separate days as recommended in national guidelines, referred to as delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS). An alternative procedure involves operating both eyes on the same day, but as separate procedures, known as immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of ISBCS compared to DSBCS, in order to test the hypothesis that ISBCS is non-inferior to DSBCS in terms of effectiveness and superior to ISBCS in terms of cost-effectiveness.

Methods/design

Multicenter non-inferiority randomised controlled clinical trial. Patients (18 years or older) with bilateral cataract and an indication for bilateral cataract surgery with an expected uncomplicated intraoperative and postoperative course are included in the study. Patients are randomly assigned to either ISBCS or DSBCS. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with a refractive outcome in the second eye within 1.0 dioptre from the target refraction, at 4 weeks after surgery. Secondary outcomes include corrected and uncorrected distance visual acuity, complications, patient reported outcomes (PROMs), cost-effectiveness, and budget impact. Follow-up visits are planned at 1 week after first-eye surgery and 4 weeks after second-eye surgery. At 3 months after first-eye surgery, the occurrence of complications is checked and patients fill in a final questionnaire.

Discussion

This study protocol describes the design of a multicenter non-inferiority randomised controlled trial. Current studies on ISBCS often lack information on safety regarding refractive outcomes. In addition, there is a lack of well-designed cost-effectiveness studies using established methods. The BICAT-NL study will provide more insight in refractive and cost-effectiveness outcomes for ISBCS compared to DSBCS.

Trial registration

This study was prospectively registered at Clinicaltrials.gov on January 17th 2018. (Identifier: NCT03400124.

Immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery: A 5-year retrospective analysis of 2470 eyes from a tertiary care eye center in South India

Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and benefits of immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery.

Patients and Methods:

Retrospective data analysis of patients who underwent immediate sequential bilateral phacoemulsification with foldable intraocular lens (IOL) implantation under topical anesthesia from January 2011 to September 2016 was performed. Patients with visually significant bilateral cataract within the axial length range of 21.0–26.5 mm were included in the study. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were evaluated.

Results:

Two thousand four hundred and seventy eyes from 1235 patients with a mean age of 68.34 years (range: 4–90 years) were analyzed. Best-corrected visual acuity improved from 0.40 ± 0.17 to 0.08 ± 0.10 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution). Nearly 92.05% eyes achieved a target postoperative refraction of ± 0.5 D spherical equivalent. Main complications observed were prolonged postoperative inflammation in 25% (n = 31), posterior capsular tears in 0.45% (n = 11), and unilateral cystoid macular edema in 0.08% (n = 2) eyes. No sight-threatening complications such as endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, corneal decompensation and intraocular hemorrhage occurred in any of the eyes. Out of the 288 (23.2%) patients who underwent bilateral multifocal IOL implantation, 23 patients (46 eyes) had femtolaser-assisted cataract surgery procedure. Two pediatric and one Downs syndrome patient underwent bilateral cataract surgery under general anesthesia and intravenous sedation, respectively.

Conclusion:

IBSCS may be considered as a preferred practice in eligible cases considering significant patient benefits such as early visual rehabilitation, time and cost-effectiveness, and better compliance with postoperative medications. In debilitated patients and special situations, such as pediatric cataract and Downs syndrome requiring general anesthesia it may be the ideal procedure.

Immediate Sequential Bilateral Cataract Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The aim of the present systematic review was to examine the benefits and harms associated with immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) with specific emphasis on the rate of complications, postoperative anisometropia, and subjective visual function in order to formulate evidence-based national Danish guidelines for cataract surgery. A systematic literature review in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane central databases identified three randomized controlled trials that compared outcome in patients randomized to ISBCS or bilateral cataract surgery on two different dates. Meta-analyses were performed using the Cochrane Review Manager software. The quality of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE method (Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). We did not find any difference in the risk of complications or visual outcome in patients randomized to ISBCS or surgery on two different dates. The quality of evidence was rated as low to very low. None of the studies reported the prevalence of postoperative anisometropia. In conclusion, we cannot provide evidence-based recommendations on the use of ISBCS due to the lack of high quality evidence. Therefore, the decision to perform ISBCS should be taken after careful discussion between the surgeon and the patient.

Bilateral Pseudomonas aeruginosa endophthalmitis following bilateral simultaneous cataract surgery

A bilateral simultaneous cataract surgery (BSCS) was performed on a 67-year-old man. The surgeon had not changed the surgical settings in between the two procedures for the two eyes. The patient developed fulminant bilateral endophthalmitis a day following the BSCS. Intravitreal culture grew Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The source of infection was not found. Immediate bilateral vitrectomy and intravitreal, subconjunctival, topical and systemic antibiotic did not save the eyes. Patient ended up with bilateral visual loss.