Comparison of outcomes in cataractous eyes of dogs undergoing phacoemulsification versus eyes not undergoing surgery.

Objective: To compare outcomes of surgical intervention and nonsurgical management of canine cataracts. Methods: Records of patients examined for cataracts from January 2007 to February 2018 were divided into two groups: nonsurgical and surgical. The nonsurgical group was further subdivided based on whether the decision not to pursue surgery was elected by owners, or based on ophthalmologist's advice. Inclusion criteria included 6 months of follow‐up. Success in the nonsurgical group was defined as a comfortable eye with no potentially painful complications, and success in the surgical group additionally required vision. Time‐to‐failure (complications) was assessed with Cox proportional hazards models. Results: A total of 72 eyes (41 dogs) were included in the nonsurgical group, and 126 eyes (67 dogs) were surgically treated. There was no difference in gender or age; however, the surgical group had significantly more diabetic eyes (56.3% vs 15.3%; P <.001) and patient eyes with longer follow‐up times (median 37.6 months vs 22.1 months; P <.001) than the nonsurgical group. There was no statistically significant difference in complication rates between the nonsurgical group (15/72 [20.8%]) and the surgical group (23/126 [18.3%]; HR: 2.22 [0.97, 5.0]; P =.060). However, the complication rate in the ophthalmologist‐led nonsurgical group was significantly greater than in the owner‐led nonsurgical group (P =.019) and the surgical group (P =.002). Conclusions: When using relevant outcomes, whether or not a cataractous eye has surgery does not affect long‐term complications; additionally, nonsurgical eyes that are poor surgical candidates have a higher complication rate than eyes deemed suitable for phacoemulsification for which owners elected not to pursue cataract surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]