Retrospective evaluation of phacoemulsification surgery learning curves of residents at Uludağ University Medical Faculty

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the cataract surgery learning curves and surgical results of residents in our clinic. Materials and Methods: 339 eyes of 301 patients who underwent phacoemulsification surgery by residents under the supervision of a senior surgeon between September 2019 and January 2021 were retrospectively screened. The beginning cases (n=83) of the three resident were compared with their subsequent cases (n=256) in term of demographic characteristics, preoperative risk factors, surgical completion rates, occurring complications during or after surgery, surgical results, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Risk factors were tried to be determined by comparing patients with and without complications. Results: Demographic characteristics and preoperative risk factors were not statistically different between the beginning cases and subsequent cases. The overall complication rate in initial cases was 19.3%. In subsequent cases, this rate declined to 6.2%. The decrease in complication rates was statistically significant. Surgery completion rates increased from 66.3% to 96.9%. The increase in postoperative visual acuity increased significantly in both groups. There was no statistically significant difference in BCVA increase in complicated and non-complicated eyes. In contrast, the increase in BCVA in eyes with additional ocular diseases was significantly lower than in eyes without ocular disease. Conclusion: It has been observed that surgical competence improves with increasing surgical experience. Cataract surgery training of residents in our clinic is similar to the literature in terms of patient safety, surgical results, and learning curves. Keywords: cataract, resident training, learning curve, phacoemulsification training