Publication:

Determinants of posterior capsular opacity after cataract surgery: a cross-sectional study

Background Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) which is also known as “after cataract” or “secondary cataract”, is the most common complication of cataract surgery, with an incidence of 20-50%. The current study was conducted in a tertiary hospital of Odisha with an objective to find out the determinants of PCO among patients with defective vision attending the outdoor patient department of Ophthalmology.

Methods A hospital based descriptive study was conducted among the patients attending the ophthalmology out patient department of a tertiary hospital of Odisha. The detail history regarding the type of surgical procedure used for cataract extraction and the type of Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) implanted, duration of post-operative period was collected from the available documents and ophthalmic examination of the participants.

Results In the present study, 184 participants were included and examined. Fifty percent of the participants had undergone conventional extra capsular cataract extraction procedure. In 86.95% participants, the IOL used was Poly Methyl Methacrylate lens (PMMA). In 26.08% of the participants the development of PCO was within 12 to 36 months of cataract surgery. The average duration of PCO development recorded for participants <20 years was 3 months.

Conclusions Most of the participants included in the study with PCO had undergone conventional ECCE surgery, implanted PMMA lens, IOL with round edge and had a duration of 12-36 months between cataract surgery and PCO development. The average duration of PCO development is less among younger participants which gradually increases with increase in age.