Comparison of Changes in Intraocular Pressure and Anterior Chamber Before and After Cataract Surgery

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Fortunately, cataract-induced blindness is reversible by cataract surgery. In addition to reclaiming lost vision, cataract surgery lowers intraocular pressure, but the reason for this remains unclear. Understanding the mechanism behind intraocular pressure reduction following cataract surgery has implication for treating glaucoma, which involves lowering intraocular pressure through glaucoma medications or surgeries. Adequate control of intraocular pressure through cataract surgery would render glaucoma treatment nonessential and could become an optimal solution for patients with coexisting cataract and glaucoma. To answer the research question of whether anterior chamber angle alteration induces intraocular pressure reduction, we compared changes in intraocular pressure and anterior angle before and after cataract surgery. Age, ethnicity, and gender are risk factors related to cataract development, but their effects on the degree of changes in intraocular pressure and anterior chamber angle following cataract surgery are unclear. The degree of change in intraocular pressure and anterior chamber angle following cataract surgery is evaluated in terms of these risk factors, to assess whether a relationship exist between them. Statistical analysis revealed a significant decrease in intraocular pressure and an increase in anterior chamber angle opening distance following cataract surgery. However, comparison of the degree of changes in intraocular pressure and angle opening distance in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender revealed insignificant difference within each group. In conclusion, we found that anterior chamber angle extension is a mechanism for intraocular pressure reduction following cataract surgery and this is consistent regardless of age, gender, and ethnicity. Repeated studies with this experimental design at other clinical sites are needed to substantiate the applicability of our findings to the general population.