Clinical features, management, and outcomes of expulsive choroidal hemorrhage during cataract surgery: 13-year experience of a tertiary eye center

Eyes with peribulbar and retrobulbar anesthesia showed higher rate of expulsive choroidal hemorrhage than those with sub-Tenon anesthesia. Between limited and full-blown expulsive choroidal hemorrhage, the former was having better prognosis. Purpose: To study the risk factors, clinical features, management, and outcomes of intraoperative expulsive choroidal hemorrhage (ECH) during cataract surgery. Setting: Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Design: Retrospective hospital-based study. Methods: Of the 1 167 250 patients who underwent cataract surgery between 2008 and 2020, patients diagnosed with intraoperative ECH were included. Demography, ocular and systemic risk factors, visual acuity, type of ocular anesthesia, intraoperative and postoperative records, management, and surgical outcomes were analyzed. Results: 52 eyes (0.004%) of 1 167 250 patients had ECH. Of the 52 cases, 43 cases (incidence rate 0.006%) were reported in the years 2008 to 2015 and 9 cases (incidence rate 0.002%) in the years 2016 to 2020. The change in the ocular anesthesia from peribulbar and retrobulbar anesthesia (2008 to 2015) to sub-Tenon anesthesia (2016 to 2020) was associated with a reduced rate of ECH (P = .002). 28 eyes (53.8%) experienced limited ECH and 24 eyes (46.2%) full-blown ECH. The visual outcome was better in eyes with limited ECH compared with full-blown suprachoroidal hemorrhage in all follow-up visits. The median vision (interquartile range) before the cataract surgery and at postoperative day 1 were 1.30 (0.78 to 2.60) and 2.45 (1 to 2.75), respectively. The median final vision (interquartile range) after the secondary surgical intervention was 2.2 (0.60 to 2.60). Conclusions: This series included 52 eyes with ECH, recognized associations of ECH with different types of anesthesia and with different cataract surgical procedures, and described management of ECH. Postoperative visual outcome was poor.