Cataract surgery in ambulatory surgery unit: our experience in 14 years

• Published in: Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) Vol. 88; no. s246
• Main Authors: PEREZ GARCIA, D, IBANEZ ALPERTE, J, CRISTOBAL BESCOS, JA, MINGUEZ MURO, E, JIMENEZ, A, JIMENEZ DEL RIO, B, CASAS, P, RAMIRO MILLAN, P, CRUZ, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2010
• ISSN: 1755-375X; 1755-3768
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2010.433.x

Purpose To evaluate the outcomes of cataract surgery in the Ambulatory Surgery Unit in our hospital from 1995 to 2009.
Methods Retrospective and descriptive study including 5087 cataract surgeries performed in our hospital between 1995 and 2009. We have analysed several indicators(substitution, suspension),variables(gender, age, anesthesia, surgical technique, morbidity, pre‐and postoperative medication required as the degree of patient satisfaction after passage through the unit)and complications after surgery. The data analysis program used was StatView.
Results During the period studied, cataract surgery was the most common surgery in the unit, representing a 30.4% of the total, and the most common eye surgery (77.8%). The 54.94% of the patients were women, average age 73.11 years. Retrobulbar anesthesia was the most common with 74.03% of the surgeries, and the the preferred surgical technique was phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation(91.74%). Twenty one patients had severe complications(arterial hypertension, nausea, vomiting, vasovagal syncope...) that required admission to hospital.
Conclusion The model of Ambulatory Surgery in cataract surgery has proved, through their results in time and in properly selected patients, safe, efficient and effective, establishing as a consolidated unit in ophthalmologic patients.