Peak Occurrence of Retinal Detachment following Cataract Surgery: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis with Internal Validation

INTRODUCTION: Timing of retinal detachment (RD) following cataract surgery is of importance for both diagnostic and prognostic factors. However, results on RD onset-time following cataract surgery have been conflicting. METHOD: A systematic pooled analysis of the literature regarding timing of retinal detachment following cataract surgery. Outcomes were verified against an independent dataset. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies, reporting on rates of RD in 3,352,094 eyes of 2,458,561 patients, met our inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The mean pooled time to RD following surgery was 23.12 months (95% CI: 17.79–28.45 months) with high heterogeneity between studies (I (2)=100%, P < 0.00001). Meta-analytic pooling for the risk of retinal detachment revealed a risk of 1.167% (95% CI: 0.900 to 1.468, I (2)=99.50%, P < 0.0001). A retrospective chart review identified 54 pseudophakic RD cases (mean age 65.5, 59.3% males). The 95% confidence interval for the mean time to RD was 3.1–6.75 years. CONCLUSIONS: The interval between cataract surgery and RD in a pooled analysis revealed a mean time of approximately 1.5–2.3 years. However, there was high variability between studies. Validation based on our local results showed similar yet slightly longer time frames. Timing of pseudophakic retinal detachment might direct appropriate follow-up, assisting in earlier detection.