Purpose: To determine the visual outcome of cataract surgery in diabetes mellitus with advanced cataract in a tertiary institution in Nigeria.
Design: A retrospective case control study conducted at the University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria.
Subjects: Twenty three consecutive patients with diabetes and 23 age and sex matched non-diabetic control patients who had extracapsular cataract extraction for advanced cataract between 2002-2005.
Main outcome: Mean post operative visual acuity and surgical complications.
Results: Twenty three patients with diabetes mellitus and 23 non diabetic controls were studied; mean duration of diabetes was 8.1 +/- 7.2 years. The mean post operative visual acuity in diabetics was 0.11+/-0.38, 0.33+/-0.57 and 0.38+/-0.49 at one week, two months and six months compared with 0.23+/-0.19, 0.46+/-0.37 and 0.48+/-0.31 in non diabetics. (p=0.207, 0.403 and 0.465 respectively). Improvement in preoperative visual acuity was noted in 84.2% and 90% in diabetics and non-diabetics respectively. Poor visual outcome in diabetics was mainly due to diabetic retinopathy, maculopathy or diabetes related surgical complications.
Conclusion: Visual improvement was seen following surgery for advanced cataract in diabetics in this study population. Post operative monitoring for treatment of diabetic retinopathy may enhance visual outcome.
Keywords: Cataract; cataract extraction; diabetes mellitus; diabetic retinopathy; visual outcome.