Objective To explore the effect of a clinical pathway employing the evidence-based theory in the perioperative care of patients with cataract combined with glaucoma. Methods One hundred and twenty-eight patients with cataract combined with glaucoma admitted to a hospital in Zhengzhou from January 2015 to October 2021 were selected and divided into a control group and a study group using the random number table method

with 64 cases in each group. Patients in the control group were given conventional nursing intervention

and patients in the study group received clinical care employing the evidence-based theory in addition. The preoperative status

the ocular indexes

psychological status

visual analog scale（VAS） scores before and after the intervention

and the rate of recurrence and complications were compared between the 2 groups of patients. Results The preoperative heart rate

systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate of patients in the study group were lower than those in the control group

and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）. After intervention

the intraocular pressure（IOP） and anterior chamber depth decreased

and they were lower in the study group than in the control group; the visual acuity increased

and it was higher in the study group than in the control group. All differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）. The self-rating anxiety scale（SAS） and self-rating depression scale（SDS） scores were lower in the 2 groups after the intervention

and the study group was lower than the control group

with statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. The VAS scores of patients in both groups were lower than before the intervention

and the study group was lower than the control group

with statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. The incidence of complications was 3.13%（2/64） in the study group

which was lower than that of 14.06%（9/64） in the control group

and the difference was statistically significant（χ~2=4.873

P=0.027）. There was no statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate between the 2 groups（χ~2=3.425

P=0.064）. Conclusion The clinical pathway employing the evidence-based theory

when applied to patients with cataract combined with glaucoma in the perioperative period

can reduce patients’ adverse emotions and stress reactions

relieve pain

promote IOP and visual acuity recovery

and reduce the risk of complications and recurrence.