To Study the Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy after Small Incision Cataract Surgery in Diabetic Patients

Purpose- To study the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) after small incision cataract surgery (SICS) in diabetic patients. Method- 92 eyes of 92 patients with or without DR were evaluated prospectively following cataract extraction with PCIOL implantation between Dec.2015 to May 2017. Among them, 88 patients were followed up 6 month postoperatively, 4 patients lost there follow up. Of the 88 patients 48 were women and 40 were men. Of the 88 eyes, 18 eyes (20.45 %) had Mild DR and 2 eyes (2.27 %) had moderate DR at baseline and remaining 68 eyes (77.27 %) had no diabetic retinopathy. The ocular finding were recorded on each follow -up visit for at least 6 months. The degree of glycemic control was assessed by measurement of HbA1c. Result- Progression of the retinopathy in diabetic eyes occurred in 22 eyes (25 %) in the follow-up period. Out of 22 eyes, 12 eyes (13.6 %) with mild NPDR progressed to moderate NPDR and 8 eyes (9.09 %) without retinopathy developed mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 2 eyes (2.27 %) of moderate NPDR progressed to severe NPDR. Worsening of retinopathy was more in eyes with preexisting DR. Most of the patients obtained improved visual acuity. Conclusion- We found that most of the patients obtained good visual acuity, even those with mild to moderate NPDR. This study indicate that diabetic retinopathy worsens after cataract surgery. This worsening is higher in patient having diabetic retinopathy preoperatively and poor glycemic control.