أبحاث طبية / Medical Research

**Title:** Central Macular Thickness Before and After Phacoemulsification Among Diabetic Patients ### **Background** Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of ocular complications such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema (DME), and earlier cataract formation. Phacoemulsification is the most common cataract surgery but can trigger postoperative inflammation, potentially increasing central macular thickness (CMT) and worsening DME. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) provides a non-invasive, accurate method to measure CMT and monitor subtle changes before and after surgery. Understanding these changes is key to predicting visual outcomes, identifying high-risk patients, and improving perioperative management. ### **Problem** There is limited local data on how phacoemulsification affects CMT and visual outcomes in Sudanese diabetic patients. ### **Objectives** * **General:** Evaluate CMT changes before and after phacoemulsification. * **Specific:** * Measure preoperative CMT using OCT * Assess postoperative CMT at 1 and 3 months * Evaluate changes in visual acuity (VA) * Identify risk factors associated with increased postoperative CMT ### **Methodology** * **Design:** Prospective hospital-based observational study * **Location:** Aljawareh Eye Hospital, Dongola, Sudan * **Population:** Diabetic patients ≥18 years scheduled for phacoemulsification * **Exclusions:** Pre-existing macular edema, prior intraocular surgery, other retinal diseases, complicated surgeries * **Sampling:** Convenience sampling * **Data Collection:** Preoperative and postoperative (1 and 3 months) demographics, duration of diabetes, HbA1c, visual acuity, OCT CMT * **Analysis:** SPSS; descriptive statistics, paired t-tests (pre vs post CMT), correlation (CMT vs VA), regression for risk factors; significance at p < 0.05 ### **Expected Results** * Mild postoperative increase in CMT * Possible subclinical macular edema in some patients * Overall improvement in visual acuity despite CMT changes * Greater CMT changes in patients with longer diabetes duration ### **Ethics** * Approval from Ministry of Health, Northern State * Oral consent from participants, confidentiality maintained, no added risk ### **Limitations** * Short follow-up * Lack of control group (non-diabetic patients) ### **Timeline** * Proposal approval: 1 week * Data collection: 3–6 months * Data analysis: 1 month * Report writing: 1 month

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