Incidence of Retinal Detachment after Neodymium: Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd: YAG) laser capsulotomy following cataract surgery

Abstract

Background/Aim: To evaluate the incidence of retinal detachment (RD) after doing Neodymium: Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd: YAG) laser capsulotomy following cataract surgery.

Method: This retrospective observational study was conducted at Civil hospital Karachi-Pakistan from January 2017 to January 2018. Patients visited to outpatient department (OPD) or admitted to ward, who referred for laser treatment (Nd: YAG) after cataract surgery were included in this study. Baseline characteristics for intraocular pressure (IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spherical equivalent (SE) diopter were noted for each patient. Treatment results after Nd: YAG laser, primary RD of right and left eyes and complications in successful cases were also noted. Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 was used for data analysis. Values for p< 0.05 were statistically significant.

Results: Total of 104 eyes, 59(56.7%) right eyes and 45(43.3%) left eyes of 89 patients are included. Most patients were females 51(57.3%) with mean age of 51.43±7.2 years. In most of the patients, after cataract surgery to laser treatment, time interval varied between 1-2 years 52(50%) and 2-3 years 25(24.0%). Patients succeeded at first attempt treatment after Nd: YAG laser were 86(82.7%), and at second attempt were 11(10.6%). Complications in successful cases both after 1st and 2nd attempts were intraocular lens (IOL) pitting in 5(4.81%) and transient IOP elevation in 4(3.84%) eyes. Primary RD was observed in 4(3.84%) eyes, 1(0.96%) in right eyes and 3(2.88%) in left eyes.

Conclusion: Incidence of RD after Nd: YAG laser capsulotomy was observed 3.8% following cataract surgery. Minimal complications were observed using Nd: YAG laser capsulotomy. It concludes that to manage intact posterior capsular opacity, Nd: YAG laser therapy is a noninvasive, effective and relatively safe technique. However, the RD incidence after Nd: YAG laser was higher in this part of the world need special consideration for its management.