COMPLICATIONS AND PATIENT SATISFACTION AFTER 14- AND 30-DAY WATER CONTACT RESTRICTIONS FOLLOWING CATARACT SURGERY: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL.

AIM : To examine and compare post-cataract surgery complications and patient satisfaction after 14 and 30 days of water contact restriction.   METHOD S: A total of 250 patients that had undergone standard-of-care cataract extraction were included in this prospective study. Subjects were randomized into either the control group (124 subjects), which followed a 30-day postoperative water contact restriction, or the experimental group (126 subjects), which followed a 14-day postoperative water contact restriction. Postoperative complications and patient satisfaction were examined. The visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate patient satisfaction (10 = highest level of satisfaction). RESULTS : The VAS score was 7.14 ± 1.1 in the control group and 8.12 ± 1.0 in the experimental group (P < 0.001). The vast majority of subjects in the control (121 of 124 subjects [97.6%]) and experimental (118 of 126 subjects [93.7%]) groups had no sign of postoperative infection. However, 3 subjects (2.4%) in the control group and 8 subjects (6.3%) in the experimental group had mild conjunctival injection (P = 0.274). No subject in either study group experienced any serious complications, including endophthalmitis. CONCLUSION : Subjects who adhered to a 14-day postoperative water contact restriction had a higher patient satisfaction score than those adhering to a 30-day postoperative water contact restriction. Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences between groups in visual outcomes or postoperative complication rates.