Abstract
Purpose :
Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) has been available at Frimley Park Hospital for routine use on NHS patients since July 2016. We preformed a retrospective, observational analysis to to assess intraoperative complication rates associated with FLACS in 1194 NHS patients.
Methods :
We retrospectively analysed all patients undergoing cataract surgery using the VICTUS™ Femtosecond Laser Platform (Bausch & Lomb) over a 16-month period (July 2016 - November 2017) at Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. All patients who received FLACS from initial installation of the Femtosecond laser were included in the study. FLACS consisted of capsulorhexis, lens fragmentation +/- astigmatic keratotomies. The presence of intraoperative complications was used as the main outcome measure.
Results :
1194 patients underwent FLACS. The mean age of the patients was 74.18 ± 13.8 years. A total of 43 complications (3.6%) were reported, which included 15 cases (1.2%) with posterior capsule rupture and 11 cases (0.92%) of anterior capsular rim tears. Sub-group analysis of the first-year data showed 18 complications in the initial 6 months and 13 complications in the second 6 months. Best corrected distance visual acuity of better than or equal to 6/12 was reported in 91% of cases.
Conclusions :
In this early experience of routine use of femtosecond laser for cataract surgery in an NHS setting, we have found the complication rates of femtosecond laser and visual outcomes to be comparable to the results of the National Ophthalmology Database Audit for cataract surgery in the UK.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.