Survey: Some patients rate second-eye cataract surgery more painful than first

Cataract surgery in the second eye was perceived by some patients as being more painful and/or taking longer than surgery in the first eye, despite patients being more relaxed and less anxious during the second surgery, according to a survey.

The prospective study included 292 patients who underwent second-eye cataract surgery; 12 patients whose surgeries took longer than 30 minutes were excluded from analysis.

All second-eye surgeries were performed within 6 months after first-eye surgeries.

A patient questionnaire administered immediately after second-eye surgery used a visual analogue scale (VAS) in which patients rated pain from 0 (least pain) to 10 (most pain). Patients also answered five closed-ended questions.

Thirty-eight patients (13.57%) said first-eye surgery took longer or was less comfortable than second-eye surgery, and 127 (45.36%) said the second-eye surgery took longer or was less comfortable (P < .05); 115 (41.07%) said there was no difference between surgeries.

Among patients who rated second-eye surgery as generally more negative than first-eye surgery, 47.83% thought their vision would be better in the second eye than the first and 3.48% thought their vision would be worse (P < .05); 48.7% thought their vision would be the same.

Pain scores were low, with a mean VAS score of 2.15 among patients who considered the first-eye surgery or second-eye surgery to be a worse experience.

Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.

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Source: J Cataract Refract Surg. 2015;41(1):116-121.