Study results were recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology that reveal an increased risk of post cataract surgery complications for patients with a history of intravitreal injections.
Researchers with the University of Toronto examined physician billing and diagnostic data from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan to pinpoint 163,663 adults, aged 20 years and older, who had retinal conditions and had undergone cataract surgery between 2009 and 2018. Out of this group of study subjects, 3,243 had a history of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections before the surgery.
For those patients who had previous intravitreal injections, researchers noted an increased risk of nonclearing vitreous hemorrhage, retinal tear, intraocular lens dislocation, retinal detachment, glaucoma surgery, and anterior vitrectomy.
The importance of preoperative surgical planning was stressed by the researchers in order to help prevent and manage these potential complications for cataract surgery patients.
