Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review aims to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) based on recent studies, illustrate the safety of this approach, the cost-effectiveness, and present the importance of inclusion protocols for the best results.

RECENT FINDINGS

In recent studies, the authors found no evidence of an increased risk of bilateral devastating complications such as endophthalmitis with ISBCS based on descriptive evidence compared to delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS). Furthermore, recent studies on cost analyses showed that ISBCS resulted in fewer costs and significant cost savings to third-party payers, patients, and society compared to DSBCS.

SUMMARY

The ISBCS surgical approach decreases hospital visits, reduces costs, and provides rapid visual rehabilitation and neuro adaptation. The risk of bilateral simultaneous complications is now recognized to be very rare with intracameral antibiotics and compliance with correct protocols. With new generations of optical biometry and lens calculation formulas, refractive surprises are occasional for normal eyes. However, refractive surprise is controversial, especially in the implantation of presbyopia correction intra-ocular lenses, which must be evaluated carefully in the ISBCS approach.