Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 3:16:1773-1781.
doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S366353. eCollection 2022.

Safety and Efficacy of Cataract Surgery Under a Local Infection Control Protocol Before and During a COVID-19 Wave in Thailand for Healthcare Workers and Patients: A Prospective Cohort from a Secondary Center

Ploysai Rujkorakarn  1 , Samadhi Patamatamkul  2
Affiliations

Safety and Efficacy of Cataract Surgery Under a Local Infection Control Protocol Before and During a COVID-19 Wave in Thailand for Healthcare Workers and Patients: A Prospective Cohort from a Secondary Center

Ploysai Rujkorakarn et al. Clin Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a local infection control protocol for cataract surgery (CS) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and determine the trend of CSs and visual outcomes during this period, as compared to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period.

Methods: This study was conducted at Suddhavej Hospital, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, Thailand, between July 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. In this two-phase study, we used only a COVID-19-screening questionnaire during the first phase and preoperative nasopharyngeal swab severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing for real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in the second phase, during Thailand's second COVID-19 wave. Nasopharyngeal swab SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing, SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM, or anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody seroconversion was used to detect COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers. We also compared cataract surgical volume and postoperative visual acuity of CS patients between the pre-COVID-19 period and during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Results: A total of 947 patients underwent CS. Thirty-two healthcare workers and 275 patients tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 in the second study phase. CSs increased on average by 50.09% month-to-month when the surgery was resumed. The mean postoperative logMAR best-corrected visual acuity was significantly better in the COVID-19 pandemic period than in the pre-pandemic period (difference, 0.1 [95% CI: 0.00-0.12], p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: CS could be safely performed under an infection control protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cataract surgical volume, with favorable visual outcomes, has an increasing trend after resuming elective surgeries.

Keywords: COVID-19; cataract surgery; cataract surgery trend; pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 screening; visual outcome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in relation to this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in the volume of cataract surgeries performed according to the Thai national data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Large arrow: lockdown phase. Small arrow: after lockdown was lifted. Chevron: start of the second wave.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in cataract surgery performed during the study period as compared to the pre-pandemic volume. Large arrow: lockdown phase. Small arrow: after lockdown was lifted. Chevron: start of the second wave.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Flow diagram of patients who underwent cataract surgery during the study period.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Comparison of baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and postoperative BCVA between the pre-COVID-19 period and during the COVID-19 pandemic. (B) Comparison of the median difference between pre- and postoperative BCVA between the pre-COVID-19 period and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Triangle: pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Circle: COVID-19 pandemic. Asterisk: p<0.0001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. COVIDSurg Collaborative. Elective surgery cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic: global predictive modelling to inform surgical recovery plans. Br J Surg. 2020;107(11):1440–1449. doi:10.1002/bjs.11746 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Toro MD, Brézin AP, Burdon M, et al. Early impact of COVID-19 outbreak on eye care: insights from EUROCOVCAT group. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2021;31(1):5–9. doi:10.1177/1120672120960339 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Al-Khersan H, Kalavar MA, Tanenbaum R, et al. Emergent ophthalmic surgical care at a tertiary referral center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Am J Ophthalmol. 2021;222:368–372. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2020.08.044 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Das AV, Reddy JC. Year one of COVID-19 pandemic: effect of lockdown and unlock phases on cataract surgery at a multi-tier ophthalmology network. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(10):2818–2823. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1568_21 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yospaiboon Y, Yospaiboon K, Ratanapakorn T, Sinawat S, Sanguansak T, Bhoomibunchoo C. Management of cataract in the Thai population. J Med Assoc Thai. 2012;95(suppl 7):S177–S181. - PubMed