Complications of Cataract Surgery in Iran: Trend from 2006 to 2010

Purpose: To determine intraoperative complications of cataract surgery over the period 2006 to 2010.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 106 of 272 cataract surgical centers in Iran were selected through multistage random cluster sampling from all provinces. In each province, the selected number of centers was proportionate to the number of cataract surgeries, and in each center, the selected number of charts was proportionate to the center’s number of cataract surgeries, from which we retrieved intraoperative complications.

Results: The prevalence of intraoperative complications of cataract surgery was 5.04% (95% confidence interval, CI, 3.53–6.54%) in 2006, which decreased significantly to 3.44% (95% CI 1.84–5.04%) in 2010. The most common complication was posterior capsular rupture/vitreous loss which decreased from 4.29% (95% CI 2.93–5.66%) in 2006 to 2.81% (95% CI 1.3–4.31%) in 2010. The next most common complication was suprachoroidal hemorrhage at 0.56% (95% CI 0.25–0.87%) in 2006 and 0.46% (95% CI 0.3–0.62%) in 2010. The least common complication concerned intraocular lens (IOL)-drop. Complications were seen most with lensectomy, while phacoemulsification caused the least complications. Mean hospitalization time in uncomplicated cases was 0.59 days (95% CI 0.58–0.61 days) and in complicated cases 1.14 days (95% CI 1.07–1.20 days; p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Complications of cataract surgery in Iran had a decreasing trend during 2006–2010. However, results from 2010 indicate that cataract surgical complications still need to be focused on. Hospitalization was longer for cases with complications, and further reducing this could help decrease costs of cataract surgery.