Resumo

RAMOS LOPEZ, Meisy et al. Routine preoperative clinical tests for cataract surgery. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2021, vol.34, n.2, e1094.  Epub 30-Jul-2021. ISSN 0864-2176.

Senile cataract is the leading cause of reversible blindness worldwide. Surgery is the only method available to heal this condition, with a high level of safety and considerable improvement in visual quality and quality of life. Being as it is a condition occurring in elderly patients, systemic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases, among others, are usually present. Routine preoperative laboratory tests are customarily indicated which some institutions consider unnecessary due to the low risk of this surgical procedure. A bibliographic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar with the purpose of reviewing published information about the need to conduct these laboratory tests as routine practice before cataract surgery. Since few papers about the topic were available, a selection was made of the ones providing the most relevant scientific evidence. It was concluded that no evidence exists about the requirements of and need for preoperative laboratory studies, since their results do not contribute to the ability to predict morbidity or change the conduct related to the surgical or anesthetic procedure.

Palavras-chave : Cataract; phacoemulsification; laboratory tests; routine; preoperative.