Cataract surgical quality and cost in a hill region of Western Nepal: comparing outreach eye camps with base hospital

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v9i4.19928

Keywords:

Manual small incision cataract surgery, Base hospital, Eye camps

Abstract

Background: Base hospitals that provide cataract surgical services in outreach settings need evidence that the cataract surgical quality is maintained in the camp setting and that patients achieve cost savings.

Aims and Objective: To know whether the same quality cataract surgical care could be maintained in the Primary Eye Care Centres (PECCs) as the base hospital.

Material and Methods: A prospective study at was carried out at Palpa Lions Lacoul Eye hospital (PLLEH) Gulmi, Arghakhanchi and Rampur PECCs. Total 1038 patients were examined and admitted one day prior to or on the same day of surgery. All patients were examined first post-operative day and after 2 - 3 weeks. Surgical complications, Visual acuity(VA) at discharge, 2-3 weeks were reported.

Result: Out of 1038 patients, the male patients were 556 (53.6%) and females were 482 (46.4%). Five hundred six eyes (47.2%) had VA <3/60 and 179 eyes (16.7%) had VA <6/60-3/60 and 385 eyes (36%) had <6/18-6/60 preoperatively. On first postoperative day, 853 eyes (80%) had good, 144 (13 %) had borderline and 74 (7 %) had poor outcome. 5.6% eyes had intra-operative complications. On day one, Arghakhanchi had significantly worse (p < 0.05) Gulmi not significantly different and Rampur significantly better (p < 0.05) VA compared to PLLEH. Cost per surgery was $25 for PLLEH, $37 for Arghakhanchi, $54 for Gulmi, and $ 62 for Rampur respectively.

Conclusions: The same quality and cost saving cataract surgery can be attained primary eye care centers as base hospital. Application of better patient selection criteria will reduce intra-operative complications in the PECCs.

Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.9(4) 2018 10-16

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
2870
PDF
961

Author Biography

Laxmi Devi Manandhar, General Ophthalmologist, Lumbini Eye Institute

Department of Ophthalmology

Ophthalmologist

Palpa Lions lacoul eye hospital/Lumbini eye institute

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2018-07-02

How to Cite

Manandhar, L. D., Rai, S. K., Bajracharya, K., Kandel, R. P., Sharna, P., & Bassett, K. (2018). Cataract surgical quality and cost in a hill region of Western Nepal: comparing outreach eye camps with base hospital. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 9(4), 10–16. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v9i4.19928

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 4 (2018)

Section

Original Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).