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Intraoperative complications of cataract surgery in the very old

S J Robbie¹, M Muhtaseb¹, K Qureshi¹, C Bunce², W Xing² and A Ionides¹

¹ Moorfields Eye Hospital, Duke-Elder Diagnosis and Treatment Centre, St George’s Hospital, London, UK
² Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
S J Robbie
Addenbrooke’s Hospital NHS Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK; scott.robbie{at}addenbrookes.nhs.uk

Aim: To identify whether the risk of an intraoperative complication of phakoemulsification cataract surgery increases with age.

Methods: 1441 consecutive patients undergoing phakoemulsification cataract surgery were assessed preoperatively, and data on the occurrence of intraoperative complications were collected prospectively. Data were entered into a computerised database, and logistic regression was used to examine evidence of an association between age and the risk of an intraoperative complication. In addition, the rates of intraoperative complications were compared between patients 88 years and those <88 years, and between patients 96 years and those <96 years.

Results: No significant association was found between age and the risk of an intraoperative complication. The authors found little evidence that patients 88 years were at a greater risk of an intraoperative complication than those <88 years, or that those 96 years are at increased risk; however, numbers were small.

Conclusions: These results suggest that age alone is not a major risk factor for any intraoperative complications occurring during phakoemulsification cataract surgery. This has implications not just for tailoring the risk of complications occurring to individual patients but also for meaningful comparisons between national complication rates and those of individual surgeons, and better selection of cases suitable for instruction.

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This article has been cited by other articles:

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• Robbie, S. J, Muhtaseb, M., Qureshi, K., Bunce, C., Wen, X., Ionides, a. A. (2007). Authors' response to Konstantopoulos et al. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 91: 1254-1255 [Full Text]  

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