Risk factors associated with post-operative uveitis after cataract surgery: a retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Post-operative uveitis is the most common complication after cataract surgery in the UK. The study aims to evaluate the risk of post-operative uveitis in cataract surgery patients of different ethnicity in the presence and absence of co-morbidities as well as operative complications using multivariate analysis. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study of patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery between January 2018 to December 2019 at two hospital sites. Differences in demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between two groups defined by the development of post-operative uveitis. Statistically significant factors in univariate analysis were further analysed using multivariate analysis to account for confounders. RESULTS: One thousand and five hundred eighty seven eyes had undergone phacoemulsification cataract operations with 104 (6.6%) developing post-operative uveitis. Compared to eyes of White/Mixed/Other ethnicity, Asian and Afro-Caribbean eyes were associated with a twofold (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.16-3.52, P = 0.013) and fivefold (OR 5.15, 95% CI 2.85-9.29, P < 0.001) risk of post-operative uveitis, respectively. Complicated surgery involving eyes with small pupil/iris hooks/Malyugin ring (OR 2.70, 95% CI 1.16-6.30, P = 0.022) and posterior capsular rupture (OR 6.00, 95% CI 2.55-14.12, P < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of post-operative uveitis. CONCLUSIONS: The factors significantly associated with a post-operative uveitis outcome were patients of Asian and Afro-Caribbean ethnicity, small intra-operative pupil size, use of iris hooks or Malyugin ring and PCR. The post-operative management plan should be tailored in these group of patients with a view of early assessment and prompt management of symptoms.