Can the postoperative follow-up visit be deferred up to four weeks after an uneventful cataract surgery? - A randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the postoperative visual outcome after a Day 0 examination in patients with two follow-ups, one between Day 3 to Day 7 and other between Day 25 to Day 30 to those with a single ophthalmic follow-up directly after 25–30 Days and to assess the safety of deferral of the first follow-up visit at 1 week. METHODS: Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted at a tertiary eye care hospital, with 848 patients enrolled for the study. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria were selected. Their pre-operative and post-operative data was collected and the patients were divided into groups based on the type of cataract surgery and the postoperative follow-up protocol through randomization. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the postoperative visual outcome in patients that underwent postoperative review at Day 3–7 and Day 25–30 as opposed to those that followed up directly at Day 25–30 after a mandatory Day 0 examination for all patients. CONCLUSION: In patients with no preexisting ocular or systemic comorbidity undergoing an uneventful cataract surgery, the postoperative follow-up visit can be safely deferred until 4 weeks, without any impact on the postoperative visual outcome, thereby conserving the available resources which can be deviated towards better eye care services.