Incidence of Posterior Capsule Rupture in Cataract Surgeries and its Association with Age and Hypertension

Abstract

Background and objectives: Cataract is common in aging populations, and causes blurry vision. Once it interferes with daily activity, it is treated surgically and may lead to complications such as posterior capsule rupture (PCR). The present study aims to calculate the rate of PCR and determine its correlation with age and hypertension. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted between 31st August, 2016 to 30th December, 2018 at the Department of Ophthalmology, King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH), Bahrain. A total of 458 Bahraini patients, including 199 (43.5%) women and 259 (56.5%) men with a mean age of 66.2 ± 9.186 years (S.D.), were studied. Data from medical records and the theater logbook depicted two types of procedures, phacoemulsification and extracapsular-cataract-extraction (ECCE), which were performed by a single surgeon. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 26.0). Results: Of the 458 patients studied, 7 patients (1.5%) developed complications. Out of these patients who developed complications, 4 (0.8%) cases were of PCR with no vitreous loss. On analysis, age was a significant risk factor for patients above 60 years (P=0.05), whereas hypertension was not a significant (P=0.760) risk factor for developing PCR as a complication. Conclusion: Low PCR rates were reported in this study. Contributing factors to this low occurrence of PCR could be the identification of high-risk patients and years of the surgeon’s experience. The study highlights that patients above 60 years were at higher risk of developing PCR complications. In contrast, patients with hypertension were at lesser risk of developing PCR complications. Keywords: Cataract, extracapsular cataract extraction, hypertension, phacoemulsification, posterior capsule rupture, vitreous loss, zonular dialysis.