Assessment of Differences in Pupil Size Following Phacoemulsification Surgery

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to detect the changes in pupil size developing after phacoemulsification surgery. METHODS: Seventy-five eyes of a total of 49 patients (32 males and 17 females) were included in this prospective clinical trial. Routine preoperative ophthalmological examinations of the patients were performed. The presence of any systemic diseases, the presence or history of ocular trauma, uveitis, optic neuropathy or anisocoria, using ocular or systemic medications, and also the presence of any other serious ocular diseases except cataract was considered as criteria for exclusion. The age range of patients included in the study is 48–81 years. Patients who developed surgical complications were excluded from the study. Pupil measurements were made after each patient waited in a dark room for 5 min preoperatively and were repeated 1 month after the operation. The Oasis brand of pupillometer was used for pupil measurement. RESULTS: The mean, standard deviation, median, minimum-maximum, ratio, and frequency were used for the descriptive statistics of the data. Postoperative pupil size was seen to significantly decrease compared to the preoperative period (P < 0.05). The mean value of preoperative pupil size decreased from 4.9 ± 1.0 to 4.1 ± 0.9 mm 1 month after operation. CONCLUSION: The pupil size is important in phacoemulsification especially combination with phacoemulsification and multifocal intraocular lens implantation. It should be considered that better postoperative visual outcomes would be obtained by accompanying postoperative pupil size reduction into preoperative measurements. Thus, we recommend MIOLs that function independent of pupil size as appropriate for cataract surgeries in elderly patients.