Faheem Ahmad, Syeda Iqra Iqbal.
LEARNING CURVE; Visual acuity and complications of phacoemulsification by senior surgeon.
Professional Med J Jan ;23(11):1422-8.

Any opacity in crystalline clear lens that may or may not impaired vision is called cataract. According to maturity of cataract it may be immature, mature or hypermature. When a patient develop cataract than there is no significant medical treatment for cataract. Surgery is the treatment of choice for cataract. Phacoemulsification (phaco), a modification of ECCE, has found worldwide popularity in last two decades. Objectives: To find out visual acuity and complications of phacoemulsification in patients operated by senior surgeon during learning curve. Study Design: Descriptive case series. Settings: Department of Ophthalmology Independent University Hospital, Faisalabad. Period: One year from 01-04-2014 to 31-03-2015. Data Collection Methods: Patients coming through the OPD of the eye department who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled and informed consent was taken from all patients. Results: In this study 100 eyes had undergone Phacoemulsification with IOL under Local anesthesia during study period. The mean age of patients was 57.50 years (range 30-85 years). Regarding the visual acuity in operated eyes, 80 eyes ( 80 %) had a BCVA of 6/6-6/12, 12 eyes (12 %) had a BCVA of 6/18 to 6/36 and 6 eyes (6 %) had a BCVA of 6/60 to CF. While only 2 percent Patient had visual acuity less than Counting finger(CF). Discussion: During phaco training, the author was taught in stepwise about various stages of phaco and then author practice single part every stage of phaco multiple times to be master in every step of phaco under supervision of an experienced ophthalmologist. Due to learning of phaco step-by-step leads to good surgical outcomes and least complication rates. After learning the phaco basic training, the author started to perform phacoemulsification in Independent University Hospital Faisal Abad under the supervision of an experienced ophthalmologist followed by independently performing phacoemulsification. Conclusion: Surgeon experienced in ophthalmic surgery along with adequate phacoemulsification training leads to a good visual outcome with minimum peroperative and post-operative complications.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com