This study investigated the current trends and changes in the field of cataract surgery in Korea.

The members of the Korean Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (KSCRS) and the members of the Korean Ophthalmological Society (KOS) participated in a survey on cataract surgery in 2012, the 16th survey, consisting of 108 multiple-choice questions, mailed in July 2013 to 301 KSCRS and KOS members. Sixty two (20.6%) members answered the questions. Current data were compared with previous surveys performed in 2006 and 2009.

Most of the respondents (46%) were in the fourth decade, 43% in the fifth decade and 10% in the sixth decade of life. The duration of hospital stay had decreased annually and the use of topical anesthesia (69%) was the most preferred. Self-sealing wound construction was the main wound closure technique in phacoemulsification (72%). The most preferred intraocular lens (IOL) for cataract surgery was hydrophobic acrylic (76%) which showed an increasing trend. The implantation of phakic IOL was performed by 41% of the respondents and interest in the value added IOLs such as presbyopia IOL and toric IOL had increased annually. In addition, to minimize astigmatism following cataract surgery, several methods were performed according to the degree of astigmatism. However, there was little interest in new cataract surgery techniques such as femtosecond laser and many respondents were skeptical whether to adopt the femtosecond laser cataract surgery system.

This survey summarized current trends and changes in the field of cataract surgery in Korea.