Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42046641›Full record

ArticleCureus2026

Visual Outcomes of Cataract Surgery at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Northern Sri Lanka.

Malaravan Muthusamy, Kumaran Subaschandren, Kumanan Thirunavukarasu, Aruljenani Kumutharanjan, Powsiga Uruthirakumar, Thurga Jeyaratnam

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Malaravan MuthusamyOphthalmology, Teaching Hospital Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.
Kumaran SubaschandrenCommunity and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.
Kumanan ThirunavukarasuMedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.
Aruljenani KumutharanjanOphthalmology, Teaching Hospital Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.
Powsiga UruthirakumarCenter for Digital Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.
Thurga JeyaratnamCenter for Digital Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, LKA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCataract is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment. Cataract surgery is the most common procedure for restoring vision in individuals with cataracts. It is important to assess the surgical outcomes of cataract surgery to ensure the highest standard of vision restoration, improved patient quality of life, and service delivery. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the visual outcomes of cataract surgery among patients attending the Eye Unit of Teaching Hospital Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka, at the fourth week follow-up postoperatively.

methodsAn institution-based, retrospective analytical study design was conducted among 1,133 patients who underwent cataract surgery using phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation. The study participants were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. Data were obtained through a structured data extraction form derived from patients' medical records and an interviewer-administered questionnaire, and were subsequently analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 (Released 2017; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). Proportions, summary statistics, and tables were used to present the findings. Multivariable linear regression was performed to identify associations among the variables. A p‑value of < 0.05 was considered indicative of statistical significance.

resultsAmong 1,133 patients who underwent phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, 1,027 (90.6%) achieved good postoperative visual outcomes of 6/12 or better. The majority, 699 (61.7%), were female, and 800 (70.6%) were aged 60 years and above. The most common systemic comorbidities were hypertension with 386 (34.1%) patients and diabetes mellitus with 350 (30.9%), while 24 (2.1%) of them had pre-existing ocular comorbidities. Patients aged 60 years and above demonstrated significantly less improvement in visual acuity than those aged <60 years (p < 0.001). Diabetes mellitus was independently associated with reduced postoperative visual improvement (p = 0.014), whereas sex and pre-existing ocular comorbidities were not.

conclusionThe visual outcome following cataract surgery exceeds WHO recommendations. In this study, age and diabetes mellitus were associated with postoperative visual outcomes, whereas the presence of other ocular comorbidities and sex were not. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that good postoperative visual outcomes can be achieved with cataract surgery even in resource-constrained settings.

Indexed as

best corrected visual acuity (bcva)cataractlow and middle-income countriesnorthern sri lankaphacoemulsification cataract surgerypost operative outcomespostoperative visual outcomeworld health organization (who)

Identifiers

PMID42046641
PMCPMC13110434

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.