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Objective: To examine variation in intraoperative clinical practice and rates of adverse events after cataract surgery across four different healthcare systems., Design: Multicenter cohort study., Participants: Patients were recruited from ophthalmic clinics in the United States (n = 75); in the Province of Manitoba, Canada (n = 12); in Denmark (n = 17); and the City of Barcelona, Spain (n = 10). In all, 1420 patients undergoing first eye cataract surgery were enrolled, with preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative clinical data collected on 1344 patients (95%)., Main Outcome Measures: Occurrence of 23 specified intraoperative and early postoperative adverse events was measured. Four-month postoperative visual acuity outcome also was measured., Results: Phacoemulsification was performed in two thirds of the extractions in the United States and Manitoba, in one third in Denmark, and in 3% in Barcelona (P < 0.001). More than 96% of extractions in North America and Denmark were performed with the patient under local anesthesia, whereas general anesthesia was used for 38% of extractions in Barcelona (P < 0.001). Rates of intraoperative adverse events were 11% to 12.8% in Manitoba, Denmark, and Barcelona and significantly lower in the United States (6%), mainly because of a lower rate of capsular rupture (P < 0.01). Significantly higher rates of early postoperative events were seen in the United States (18.8%) and Manitoba (20.4%) compared to Denmark (7.9%) and Barcelona (5%) (P < 0.001). The differences among sites in rates of events could not be explained by differences in recorded patient characteristics or surgical techniques. The occurrence of perioperative events was significantly associated with a worse 4-month visual outcome., Conclusion: The observed variation in clinical practice might represent a general trend of a slower diffusion of new medical technology in Europe compared with that of North America. Rates of intraoperative and early postoperative events varied significantly across sites.

Objective: To compare visual outcomes obtained following cataract surgery in 4 sites in North America and Europe where considerable differences in the organization of care and patterns of clinical practice have been previously described., Methods: Patients scheduled for first eye-cataract surgery and aged 50 years or older were enrolled consecutively in a prospective multicenter study that collected clinical and patient interview data preoperatively and postoperatively. From the United States, 772 patients were enrolled; from the Province of Manitoba (Canada), 159; from Denmark, 291; and from the City of Barcelona (Spain), 200. Preoperative and 4-month postoperative visual acuity was obtained for 92% of the patients (n = 1291)., Results: The mean 4-month postoperative visual acuity of eyes operated on varied significantly across the 4 sites (P < .001) and had the following Snellen decimal fraction measurements: 0.49 in Barcelona, 0.65 in Denmark, 0.66 in Manitoba, and 0.74 in the United States. However, while crude visual acuity outcome figures varied significantly, no significant difference was observed across the 4 sites regarding the risk of poorer visual outcome after controlling for differences in age, preoperative visual acuity, and general health status for patients with no ocular comorbidity. Older age, poorer preoperative visual acuity, poorer preoperative general health status, and coexisting ocular comorbidity were predictors of a poorer visual outcome., Conclusion: A previously identified variation in treatment modalities across the 4 sites did not seem to affect patients' visual acuity outcomes.