Phacoemulsification in patients with diabetic macular edema – A real-world data of 75 eyes

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of phacoemulsification with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) injection in patients with cataract and diabetic macular edema (DME) across the grades of diabetic retinopathy (DR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a retrospective observational study. The study included 70 patients (75 eyes) with cataract and clinically significant macular edema in diabetics with nonproliferative (61 eyes) or proliferative (14 eyes) DR who underwent phacoemulsification with IVTA. Visual outcome and progression of DME over 3 months were studied in terms of the best‑corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT), respectively. RESULTS: The case records of 70 patients (75 eyes) were studied. The mean baseline BCVA (n = 75) in the logMAR scale ± SD was 0.92 ± 0.53. 3 weeks after the surgery, the mean BCVA improved to 0.39 ± 0.26 and the mean CMT (n = 40) was 382.57 ± 192.30 compared with the mean preoperative CMT of 480.57 ± 163.25 in the same set (P = 0.01). The mean CMT decreased at 3 weeks in 22 (55% of the eyes). An improvement of ≥2 lines was seen at 3 weeks in 52 (69.33%) eyes and in 49 (65.33%) eyes at 3 months. The mean CMT at 3 months was 445.51 ± 222.99 (n = 70) compared to the preoperative mean CMT of 470.72 ± 176.15 in the same set (P = 0.29). The mean CMT decreased at 3 months in 34 (48.5%) eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Phacoemulsification with IVTA injection improved the mean visual acuity at 3 weeks and 3 months in two‑thirds of cases and decreased the mean CMT at 3 weeks in nearly half the numbers.