Causes behind cancelled or postponed cataract surgeries in a tertiary eye care hospital: A retrospective analysis

Purpose: To study the causes leading to the cancellation or postponement of cataract surgery on the day of surgery in a tertiary eye hospital. Methods: All adult patients diagnosed with cataract and posted for cataract surgery from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 and for whom surgeries were cancelled on the day of surgery or one day preceding the surgery after the patient has presented to the hospital were included in this retrospective study. The causes for cancellation were retrieved from the patient files and the electronic medical records. Results: Out of 320,632 patients for cataract surgery, surgeries of 8483 were cancelled because of various causes, resulting in a cumulative cancellation rate of 2.65%. The most common cause for cancellation on the day of surgery was systemic illness in 2909 patients (34.3%), followed by refusal by the patient seen in 2450 patients (28.9%) and infective and inflammatory causes of the eye in 1243 patients (14.6%). Conclusion: Systemic illness is the most common cause on the day of cancellation of cataract surgery in a tertiary eye hospital, followed by the refusal by the patient to get operated on. Thorough pre-operative evaluation, systemic examination, and proper counselling play an important role in improving the efficiency of cataract surgeries.