Abstract
Purpose: :
Age related cataract remains the major cause of visual impairment and blindness in developing countries, accounting for nearly half (47.8%) of all blindness cases. The Global initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness Vision 2020: The Right to Sight' identified cataract as one of the target diseases receiving priority attention. Reported cataract surgical coverage is low, and visual outcomes are poor and require improvement. Cataract Surgical Coverage (CSC) can serve as a marker of the availability of eye care services and visual outcomes, representing the quality of the services. The outcomes can be influenced by the technique used, and the implant or not of the intra-ocular lenses. Lately, some reports have showed that the outcomes in eye camp hospitals are lower than those from patients cared for at based hospitals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the visual outcomes from cataract surgery in a mobile unit in a poor area of Brazil.
Methods: :
Patients, who underwent cataract surgery at the Inacio Cavalcanti Mobile Surgical Unit from December of 2004 to January of 2006, were included in this study. All the surgeries were done in side the unit, with a complete operating room similar to a based operating room. The data was recorded on the Outcomes for Cataract Surgery Software.
Results: :
It was included in the study 167 patients, 91 females and 76 males. The visual acuity in the better eye at the time of operation was 55.1% (6/6 - 6/18), 34.1% (<6/18 - 6/60) and 10.8% (<6/60). The proportion of known ocular diseases in operated eyes was 19.2%, and glaucoma was the leading cause with 12 cases (7.2%). PHACO was the most common technique with 161 eyes operated and 5 complications. Complications due to the surgery occurred in 3.6% of patients.
Conclusions: :
Mobile surgical units can be a way to achieve the aim of more surgeries, both in quantity and quality were the services are not available, having a good impact in the prevention of blindness due to cataract.
Keywords: cataract • visual acuity