Stabilisation of Automated Refraction in the Immediate Time After Uneventful Cataract Surgery

INTRODUCTION: To determine which day automated refraction stabilised the first week after uneventful cataract surgery.

METHODS: This was a prospective, single-blinded, randomised cohort study of 148 eyes in 148 consecutive patients undergoing uneventful cataract surgery. Automated refraction was measured from days 2 to 7 after surgery and compared to automated refraction measured 6 weeks post-surgery. We compared measurements using a hierarchical mixed-effect model.

RESULTS: Our adjusted results did not show a statistically significant change in spherical equivalent between the first week after surgery and 6 weeks after surgery (p-values: day 2: 0.914, day 3: 0.922, day 4: 0.168, day 5: 0.211, day 6: 0.457, day 7: 0.621). We measured the spherical error as stable except for day 5, where a statistically significant change of 0.32 dioptre (p = 0.049) was detected. Similarly, the cylindrical error was also stable on all days of measurements except on day 6, where a significant change of 0.28 dioptre (p = 0.034) was detected.

CONCLUSION: The adjusted spherical equivalent was stable on days 2-7 after uneventful cataract surgery in our study population. However, as we observed a statistically significant difference in spherical and cylindrical errors on days 5 and 6, respectively, we could not conclude that automated refraction stabilised the first week after uncomplicated cataract surgery.