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.