Abstract
PURPOSE: This study examined patients with permanent legal blindness in one eye after a previous eye surgery and those with permanent legal blindness in one eye for non-surgical reasons. The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence of complications both during and after surgery in patients undergoing phacoemulsification for cataracts or vitreoretinal surgery for retinal detachment in the fellow eye. METHODS: A retrospective study included 62 patients (group 1) with legal blindness in one eye, compared to 62 control patients (group 2) undergoing similar surgeries. Complications, history of complex surgery leading to legal blindness, and demographic characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: In group 1, the complication rate was significantly higher in patients who underwent both phacoemulsification and vitreoretinal surgeries than in group 2 (p < 0.05). In group 1, complications developed during surgery in the other eye in 28.1% of the patients whose permanent legal blindness stemmed from a complication in the previous surgery. In contrast, complications arose in the surgery of the other eye in 10% of patients whose permanent legal blindness did not result from any complications in the previous surgery. A statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: In our study, if the cause of eye loss in patients with permanent legal blindness in one eye was a surgical complication, the possibility of complications during surgery in the other eye was high. Surgery can be planned at higher visual acuity levels in a patient who has lost one eye for reasons other than surgery. In patients who have lost one eye due to previous surgery, surgery for the other can be planned at lower visual acuity levels. CONCLUSION: This is the first report to compare the rate of complications during and after surgery in patients with pre-existing permanent legal blindness in one eye who underwent cataract surgery and vitreoretinal surgery in the other.