Abstract
To assess prospectively the complications and outcomes in a single-surgeon series during the phacoemulsification learning curve a prospective analysis of 400 phacoemulsification procedures in 358 patients was carried out. The main outcome measures were capsular tear, vitreous and nuclear loss, best corrected post-operative visual acuity and refractive cylinder. Capsular tears occurred in 6.3% of phacoemulsification procedures, with vitreous loss in 1.5%. One nucleus was lost into the vitreous. Best corrected visual acuity, including pre-existing pathology, was 6/9 or better in 83.6% of eyes. There was 1 dioptre or less change of astigmatism from pre-operative to 6 weeks in 91% of eyes. It is concluded that phacoemulsification with careful patient selection can be a safe procedure even during the learning curve.
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Seward, H., Dalton, R. & Davis, A. Phacoemulsification during the learning curve: Risk/benefit analysis. Eye 7, 164–168 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1993.35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1993.35
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