Risk of late IOL dislocation is low

Recent reports have indicated that the rate of late IOL dislocations is on the rise. However it's unclear whether this is a true increase or simply the result of a larger community of at-risk pseudophakic patients. To find out, the authors of this 30-year population-based study compared the risk of late IOL dislocation between different decades to determine whether the risk has actually changed over time. They found that the risk of late posterior chamber IOL dislocation requiring surgical management after ECCE and phacoemulsification is low and remained largely unchanged over the 30-year time period.

They retrospectively analyzed records for all residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, who had cataract surgery from 1980 through 2009. The cumulative risk of late posterior chamber IOL dislocation was 0.1 percent at 10 years after surgery, increasing to 1.7 percent at 25 years. Interestingly, the incidence of cataract surgery among this population increased 330 percent in the 2000s compared with the 1980s, consistent with changing patterns of cataract extraction worldwide.

Although an uncommon complication, late dislocated IOLs requiring surgical intervention may become more of a burden to society as the pseudophakic community continues to increase in size.