Peri-Operative Cataract Surgery Complications associated with Hepatitis C: an observational study

Abstract

 Introduction: Small Incision Cataract surgery (SICS) is one of the most commonly performed surgery and the Hepatitis C virus infection in the country like ours is an upcoming health hazard. Undiagnosed asymptomatic HCV sero-positive cases outnumber the diagnosed cases. Hypocoagulability because of hepatitis, can cause detrimental effect on cataract surgery.  Objective: To analyze the cataract surgery complications in HCV infected cases. Methods: This was a prospective, observational study conducted in the department of Ophthalmology of Muzaffarnagar Medical College, Uttar Pradesh from January 2019 to January 2020. After taking permission from the ethical committee and informed-written consent from the patients, total 200 eyes of 158 patients having (116 unilateral and 42 bilateral) cataract and incidentally diagnosed positive for HCV infection were enrolled in the study.Results: Out of 200 eyes, 48 eyes had no complications and 152 (76%) eyes had one or more complications like intra-operative bleed (68%), difficulty in wound closure (19.5%), post-operative AC reaction (61.5%), delayed healing (49%), hyphema (48%), leaky wound (37%) and keratitis (34%).Conclusion: Significant number of asymptomatic HCV sero-positive patients undergoing cataract surgery had peri-operative complications. It is recommended that pre-operative viral marker screening of all cataract patients should be done and measures to combat the difficulties during and after the surgery should be taken care of.