Effect on cataract surgeries outcomes performed by resident trainees with prior basic general surgery training

Background: Ophthalmic surgery shares some similarities with general surgery in its basis as a surgery; cataract surgery, however, is in essence microscopic surgery and technically different. The current mainstream ophthalmology training curriculum does not require prior surgical experience. This study compares cataract surgery outcomes among ophthalmology trainees who possess experience of previous general surgery training than those without. Materials and methods: Retrospective analyses were done on cataract surgeries performed in 2015–2019. Surgeon name, patient demographics, and visual acuity with refractive outcomes before and after cataract surgery data were extracted. Eyes with preoperative detectable morbidity other than cataract were excluded. The first 30 independent clear‑corneal incision extracapsular cataract extractions of each trainee were included. Eyes identified were grouped into two groups, according to their surgeons with and without prior general surgery training. Statistical analyses were performed using t tests and χ^2 tests. Results: A total of 180 eyes were included for analysis. Six resident trainees were included: three without any general surgery training, whereas three trainees underwent prior 6 months of basic general surgery training in a university teaching hospital. Postoperative corneal astigmatism increment was found to be 1.16 D (P = 0.002, 95% confidence interval, 0.46–1.86) less for cataract surgeries performed by residents with prior general surgery training. Otherwise, postoperative visual acuity improvement and complication rates were not statistically significant between the two groups. Conclusions: Residents with previous general surgery training achieved better cataract surgery functional outcomes, in terms of postoperative corneal astigmatism but had similar visual acuity outcome. General surgery training is not a prerequisite to general ophthalmology training.