Studying the Effect of LASIK on the Cataract Extraction Timing: A Retrospective Study

Abstract Background: With the aging of the people who had LASIK, the number of patients requiring cataract surgery after LASIK has been increasing. Aim of Study: To study the effect of having LASIK on the timing of cataract extraction. Setting: Eye Care Center, time period from June 2014 to June 2022. Patients and Methods: The data of the population of this retrospective observational study was collected from files of a private ophthalmology hospital. The patients were divided into two groups of matched axial length and sex, Group A: Eyes with a history of LASIK before having cataract extraction. Group B: Eyes with no history of LASIK before having cataract extraction. In each group the average, median, max-imum and minimum age were calculated. We excluded any patient with history of any systemic or local disease associated with early cataract such as diabetes mellites or previous surgeries apart from LASIK in the first group. Results: The study showed a statistically significant difference of 16.77 years in the average age between group A compared to group B with the lower age being evident in group A. As in group A, the average was 50.19±8.5 years, while in group B, the average age was 66.96±9.4 years (p<.001). Conclusion: The study showed that patients with history of LASIK tend to seek cataract extraction earlier than patients who didn't have history of LASIK with more than 16 years difference.