LAUSR

OBJECTIVE and Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of adverse events in patients who underwent refractive lens exchange. DESIGN Retrospective case series Methods: SETTING: Private refractive surgery clinics PATIENTS/STUDY POPULATION: Patients who underwent refractive lens exchange (RLE) between 1st July 2014 and 30th June 2016. INTERVENTION/OBSERVATION PROCEDURES All adverse events recorded in the electronic medical record were extracted and retrospectively reviewed. The total incidence of adverse events (AE), and serious adverse events (SAE) was calculated. Loss of 2 or more lines of corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) was calculated for the entire cohort of patients that attended a minimum of 3 months follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AEs RESULTS: The total number of patients included was 10,206 (18,689 eyes). A multifocal IOL was implanted in 84.3% of eyes; 15.7% of eyes received a monofocal IOL. A total of 1,164 AEs were recorded (1,112 eyes of 1,039 patients, incidence 6.0% of eyes, 1:17 eyes). The most common AE was posterior capsular opacification (PCO; 748 eyes, incidence 4.0%). Of all AEs, 171 events (occurring in 165 eyes of 151 patients, incidence 0.9%, 1:113 eyes) were classified as serious, potentially sight threatening. Loss of 2 or more lines of CDVA was 0.56% when excluding eyes where the loss of CDVA was due to PCO; the majority of these were due to macular causes. CONCLUSION The incidence of sight threatening adverse events and significant loss of CDVA in elective refractive lens exchange surgery was low. Other than PCO, postoperative macular issues were the most common cause of vision loss in this cohort.