Cataract surgery in surgical camps: outcomes in a rural area of Cameroon

Aim To assess the complications and visual outcomes of cataract surgery during an outreach eye camp in Cameroon in which two foreign ophthalmologists operate alongside a local one. Materials and methods This is a retrospective and comparative cohort study. The patients were consecutively assigned to three groups depending on the ophthalmologist who performed the cataract surgeries. All eyes underwent manual sutureless incision cataract surgery with posterior chamber intraocular lens (PCIOL) implantation under peribulbar anesthesia. Postoperative visits were scheduled for the first day, first week and second month after the procedures. Intra- and postoperative complications, best-corrected visual acuity and also refractive errors were assessed. Results A total of 263 eyes underwent cataract extraction with PCIOL implantation. The percentage of eyes in which two or more lines of corrected distance visual acuity decreased were 2.4%, 2.7% and 0% for groups A, B and C, respectively. The percentage of eyes with good visual outcome (uncorrected distance visual acuity UDVA > 20/60) were, respectively, 82.09%, 81.43% and 80.82% for the three groups. Similar results were found between the three groups regarding complications. Ocular hypertension, transient corneal edema and hyphema were the incidences registered at the first postoperative control performed 24 h after surgery. The most common complication observed 2 months after surgery was posterior capsular opacity (2.6%). Conclusion High-volume cataract surgery in low- and middle-income countries may have good visual outcomes and a low rate of complications when the procedures are performed by either foreign or local ophthalmologists. Synopsis A program of high-volume cataract surgery carried out in a rural environment with few resources can give good visual outcomes in the hands of both foreign and local experienced ophthalmologists.