Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of ocular misalignment and diplopia afte
r uneventful cataract surgery.
Setting: An outpatient private practice eye institute.
Methods: One hundred thirty-eight patients referred to 1 cataract surgeon w
ere prospectively evaluated. Orthoptic evaluations were performed within 1
month before and then 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after cataract surgery. An
esthesia was by retrobulbar injection. and cataract extraction was done by
phacoemulsification.
Results: Cataract surgery was performed in 118 patients. Preoperatively, 16
patients had ocular misalignment; 10 were phoric, 4 were intermittently tr
opic, and 2 were tropic. Follow-up evaluation was obtained for 101 patients
(86%) at 1 day, 91 (77%) at 1 week, and 88 (75%) at 1 month. A change in o
cular alignment occurred in 22 of 101 patients (22%) at 1 day, 9 of 91 (10%
) at 1 week, and 6 of 88 (7%) at 1 month. Only 1 patient who had a change i
n alignment at 1 month was symptomatic.
Conclusions: A persistent change in ocular alignment after uneventful catar
act surgery occurred in 7% of patients. However. symptomatic diplopia was u
ncommon (1 in 118; 0.85%) in this relatively small series. J Cataract Refra
ct Surg 2000; 26:1205-1209 (C) 2000 ASCRS and ESCRS.