Effect of Uncomplicated Cataract Surgery on Central Macular Thickness in Diabetic and Non-diabetic Subjects

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the quantitative changes of macula in diabetic and non-diabetic eyes after uncomplicated cataract surgery.

Methods: In this prospective interventional study being performed in a tertiary healthcare hospital, a total of 660 eyes were divided into two groups. Group 1 included 330 eyes from healthy subjects and group 2 included 330 eyes from well-controlled diabetic subjects with no diabetic retinopathy planned for phacoemulsification with foldable IOL implantation by the same surgeon under similar settings. Optical Coherence Tomography (Heidelberg Spectralis SD-OCT) was used to assess preoperative and postoperative central macular thickness (CMT) at weeks 1 and 6.

Results: The mean CMT in group 1 preoperatively, at postoperative week 1, and at post-operative week 6 was 257.03 $\pm$ 20.904, 262.82 $\pm$ 17.010, and 265.15 $\pm$ 20.078 µm, respectively. The corresponding values in group 2 were 255.36 $\pm$ 17.852, 259.15 $\pm$ 16.644, and 266.09 $\pm$ 18.844 µm, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean CMT values between the two groups on any of the three occasions when the CMT was measured (P = 0.374 and P = 0.313 at weeks 1 and 6, respectively).

Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in CMT between normal subjects and diabetic subjects without diabetic retinopathy preoperatively and in early postoperative period after uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery.

Keywords: Diabetic Macular Edema; Uncomplicated Phacoemulsification; Central Macular Thickness.