Today, around 50 million people worldwide suffer from cataracts, more than a half of them need surgical treatment. High prevalence of this pathology in Ukraine, the need to improve the provision of ophthalmic care to patients, and the reform of the health care system have made the research relevant. Concomitant diseases and special conditions of the eye increase the risk of intra− and postoperative complications, worsen the functional parameters of patients after surgery. In order to develop a unified approach to the treatment of complicated cataracts based on diagnostically related groups of patients, a retrospective analysis of case histories of patients with different variants of complications related to the condition of the lens itself, its ligament apparatus and other structures of the eye was conducted. In each case, the surgeon has to choose the appropriate modification of cataract phacoemulsification surgery. The study proposed the classification of cataract phacoemulsification modifications on the basis of the techniques and the sequence of operation stages, taking into account the classification of the degrees of turbidity of the lens, proposed by L. Buratto. It has been noted that in complicated cases, according to the indications of the patient, surgery may be performed on several modifications of cataract phacoemulsification. The developed classification made it possible to generalize the various variants of pathology and greatly facilitate the choice of tactics of surgical treatment in complicated cataracts. It can be used not only for practical application, but also for improving the qualification of trained professionals. The prospect of further research is to identify contraindications for outpatient treatment of the patients with complicated cataracts.
Key words: cataract complication, classification of phacoemulsification modifications, diagnostically related groups.