Causes for Postponement of Cataract Surgery in a Peripheral Eye Hospital

Objective: To study the common causes leading to postponement of cataract surgery in a peripheral eye hospital.Design: Retrospective secondary data analysis of patients who underwent cataract surgery from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017.Method: All adult patients diagnosed with cataract and posted for cataract surgery from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017 and were cancelled on the day or 24 hours before the intended procedure were included in the study.The causes for cancellation were retrieved from the patient files.Pareto analysis was done to find out the most common causes for the cancellation.Results: 14113 patients were posted for cataract surgery from 1 st January 2015 to 31 st December 2017, of which 13265 patient underwent cataract surgery while 848 patients were cancelled within 24 hours of scheduled start time due to different causes.The cancellation rate for on the day cancellation of cataract surgery for a peripheral eye hospital is found to be 6%.Conclusion: Systemic illnesses especially uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension are the most common causes for on the day cancellation of cataract surgery in a peripheral eye hospital.