LEP cataract surgeries used higher cumulative dissipated energy (mean 9.5 vs 7.2)

Description #

LEP patients' cataract surgeries used higher cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), a measure of phacoemulsification energy delivered, than EP patients' surgeries (mean 9.5 [SD = 9.5] vs 7.2 [SD = 7.1], P < .0001; median 6.4 vs 5.3, P < .0001) (Table 2). Higher CDE reflects a denser/more challenging cataract. Note a minor internal inconsistency: the abstract reports the EP value as "7.2 [SD = 7.1]" while the Results text on p. 596 reports it as "7.2 [mean = 7.1]," an apparent typographical error for the SD.

"use higher cumulative dissipated energy (mean of 9.5 [SD = 9.5] vs 7.2 [SD = 7.1], P < .0001)" (Zafar, 2023, p. 595)

"and higher CDE (mean 9.5 [SD = 9.5] vs 7.2 [mean = 7.1], P < .0001)." (Zafar, 2023, p. 596)

Methods Context #

What? #ⓘ

The observable: cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), a continuous intraoperative measure of phacoemulsification energy.

"cumulative dissipated energy (CDE)" (Zafar, 2023, p. 596)

How? #ⓘ

Retrospective analysis of a cataract-surgery outcomes database; CDE compared by LEP status as a continuous variable (medians, means, and standard deviations reported for continuous variables).

"We performed a retrospective analysis using the Cataract Surgery Outcomes Database developed by the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine." (Zafar, 2023, p. 596)

Who? #ⓘ

CDE was available for 842 LEP eyes and 11,912 EP eyes out of the 13,590-eye cohort at a single academic eye center (2014–2020).

"A total of 13 590 eyes were included in the analytic database. Of these, 868 (6.4%) were identified from LEP patients." (Zafar, 2023, p. 596)