Outcome of pediatric cataract surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Aim - To assess outcome of pediatric cataract surgery at St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa. Methods - Results - The medical records of children aged below 16 years who underwent cataract surgery between January 2020 and December 2022 were reviewed for preoperative, surgical and postoperative data. 152 eyes of 114 children, with mean age 6.05±4.14 and 67.1% male who had cataract surgery were included. Children that presented with bilateral non-traumatic cataract were 32.5%, bilateral traumatic cataract 0.9%, unilateral non-traumatic 22.8% and unilateral traumatic cataract were 43.9%. At presentation majority (67.1%) complained decreased vision. At presentation, 76.2% of cases had visual acuity < 1.0 LogMAR, 27.6% presented with strabismus and 15.8% with nystagmus. The mean post-operative visual acuity at 6 months was significantly improved, ranging from 0.0 LogMAR to LP with 90.7 % achieving ≤ 1.00 LogMAR visual acuity. Post-operative complication that were encountered were PCO (18.7%), fibrous inflammatory membrane (7.3%), high IOP (4.9%) and RRD in (3.3%) of cases. Conclusion - With treatment from a qualified pediatric ophthalmologist, pediatric cataract can result in good visual outcomes, especially when supported by consistent follow-up care and dedication from the parents.