This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Femtosecond laser cataract surgery beneficial, successful
Outcomes of femtosecond laser cataract surgery cases have demonstrated that the treatment improves visual acuity with low complication rates, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Chee and colleagues conducted a nonrandomized treatment comparison with matched, historical controls in which they compared the visual outcomes of 794 laser surgery patients to 420 control participants in the first 2 years in an ophthalmic institution.
The surgery patients underwent laser cataract surgery by 18 surgeons; all surgeries utilized the VICTUS femtosecond laser platform (Bausch + Lomb) with 5.0 mm to 5.5 mm diameter laser capsulotomies and nuclear fragmentation.
Researchers specifically compared unaided visual acuity, mean square error, mean absolute error and refraction spherical equivalent results of surgeons with less than 50 laser cases at 6 weeks post-surgery.
Results showed that patients who had femtosecond laser cataract surgery had statistically better unaided visual acuities compared to control participants. Additionally, the researchers reported 309 intraoperative complications: 290 subconjunctival hemorrhages, nine anterior capsule tears, three posterior capsule ruptures, five suction losses, one iris hemorrhage and one endothelial incision.
The authors noted that the study had several limitations, including the control group and the visual outcomes analysis.
"Despite these shortcomings, the authors believe our data support the marginal visual benefits of femtosecond laser cataract surgery," they said.
The authors concluded: "The femtosecond laser cataract surgery using the VICTUS femtosecond laser platform was found to be successful and an acceptable complication rate in a public institution where a wide variety of challenging cataract cases of varying densities were treated." – by Chelsea Frajerman
Disclosure: Chee is a consultant to Bausch + Lomb and Hoya Medical Singapore. She has received travel grants from Abbott Medical Optics and honorarium from Bausch + Lomb Technolas, Alcon Laboratories and Allergan Singapore Pte Ltd. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors' relevant financial disclosures.