Comparison of visual acuity, complications and patient satisfaction between outpatient and inpatient keratoplasty surgery

Introduction. - Our objective in this work was to compare visual acuity, complication rate, rate of unplanned visits in the month following the procedure, and patient satisfaction between patients who received a corneal transplant as an outpatient or inpatient. Patients and methods. - Our work focused on 19 patients (6 inpatients and 13 outpatients), who had undergone unilateral keratoplasty between May 2018 and December 2018. The indications for corneal transplant were keratoconus, Fuchs dystrophy and graft rejection. Results. - All patients who were followed for at least one month had an improvement in their VA. There were on average as many postoperative consultations in the inpatient group as in the outpatient group. Complications occurred in 77% of inpatients versus 40% of outpatients. The rate of consultations in the month following the operation was similar in both groups. Patients were satisfied with outpatient management. Discussion. - No similar studies have been conducted to our knowledge. This preliminary work is limited by the small number of patients and questionnaires received and the length of follow-up. The criteria for outpatient care are very important to limit complications. For corneal transplantation, hospitalisation is most often performed with an average stay of 2 to 5 days. Outpatient management seems, according to our preliminary work, to be able to be extended into more centres without changing the postoperative follow-up or increasing the rate of complications, allowing lower cost and patient satisfaction. Conclusion. - The previous lack of this type of study, as well as the encouraging results of this work, open the way to larger scale prospective comparative as well as medico-economic studies. (c) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.