To report the predisposing factors and surgical outcomes of intraocular lens dislocation (IOL) after phacoemulsification.

We performed a retrospective study of 131 eyes in 120 patients who were diagnosed with IOL dislocation after phacoemulsification between January 2008 and December 2013. The main outcomes are possible predisposing factors, characteristics of IOL dislocation, and outcomes of rectification surgery, including visual acuity (VA), and refractive status before and at 3 months after surgery.

The main conditions associated with IOL dislocation were as follows: status after vitrectomy (27.5%), long axial length (9.2%), neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) posterior capsulotomy (8.4%), uveitis (6.1%), trauma (5.3%), mature cataract (3.8%), and pseudoexfoliation (2.3%). Mean uncorrected VA improved significantly after rectification surgery ( p = 0.00), and best-corrected VA also improved significantly ( p = 0.01). Mean value of spherical equivalent tended to decrease, although the decrease was not significant ( p = 0.07). Whereas astigmatism showed a significant increase ( p = 0.01). 6 eyes (4.6%) were associated with recurrence of IOL dislocation.

Possible major predisposing factors for IOL dislocation are status after vitrectomy, long axial length, Nd:YAG posterior capsulotomy, uveitis, and trauma. The surgical outcome and improvement of postoperative visual acuity were satisfactory.