Visual Improvement and Lowered Intraocular Pressure After Surgical Management of In-The-Bag Intraocular Lens Dislocation and Aphakia Correction; Retrospective Analysis of Scleral Suturing versus Retropupillary Fixated Iris-Claw Intraocular Lens During a 5-Year Period

Abstract

Purpose

We compare and evaluate the visual outcome and complication rate of two different techniques of surgical management of in-the-bag intraocular lens (IOL) dislocation or aphakia correction. In addition, we evaluate possible risk factors for IOL dislocation or aphakia.

Patients and Methods

This retrospective case series reviewed medical records for all patients who had undergone surgery for IOL dislocation or aphakia during a 5-year period at a single ophthalmic center in Sweden. The two most common procedures, scleral suturing of dislocated in-the-bag IOL and retropupillary fixation of iris-claw IOL, were further analyzed. Main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), reoperations, and complications.

Results

The study comprised 110 eyes, including scleral suturing procedures (n=35) and retropupillary iris-claw IOL (n=75). There was a significantly higher rate of dense cataract (p=0.030) and posterior capsular rupture (PCR), (p=0.016) among iris-claw cases at the primary cataract extraction with pseudoexfoliations in about two-thirds of patients in both groups. All eyes in the scleral suturing group had an IOL dislocation. In the iris-claw group, 23 eyes (30.7%) were aphakic following complicated cataract surgery with PCR. No intraoperative complications occurred in any eyes during the secondary IOL procedure. Both groups showed significant improvement in BCVA, yet there was no significant difference between groups in postoperative BCVA (p=0.263). However, the scleral suturing group experienced a significantly larger improvement in BCVA due to worse BCVA preoperatively (p=0.005). Intraocular pressure decreased significantly after both repositioning and exchange surgery (p=0.002 and 0.010 respectively), but improvement between groups was not significantly different (p=0.264).

Conclusion

Both surgical methods resulted in significantly improved BCVA and lowering of IOP and can be considered safe with limited complications. The outcome was similar between groups. Pseudoexfoliation prevalence was high in both groups indicating that it may be a risk factor for either aphakia or late IOL dislocation.

Keywords:

• cataract
• iris-claw IOL
• late-in-the-bag IOL dislocation
• scleral sutured
• surgery

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF agreement (ALF-GBG-725041 and 966230). The Göteborg Medical Society, Hjalmar Svensson Foundation, Greta Andersson Foundation, Herman Svensson Foundation, De Blindas vänner, Agneta Prytz-Folkes och Gösta Folkes stiftelse, and Kronprinsessans Margaretas Arbetsnämnd för Synskadade.

This work was presented as a poster at the ESCRS Annual meeting, Vienna, September 2018.

Disclosure

None of the authors has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.