OBJECTIVE To report the refractive changes after cataract surgery and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in Hong Kong Chinese children. METHODS The clinical records of all patients who had cataract extraction and IOL implantation before age 18 years and with more than 2 years of follow-up were studied retrospectively. The refractive errors of all patients determined by cycloplegic refraction at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively and then annually thereafter were included for analysis. Patients were stratified into groups according to their age at IOL implantation for analysis. RESULTS Twenty-six eyes (81.3%) had developmental cataracts, 3 eyes (9.4%) had traumatic cataracts, and 3 eyes (9.4%) were iatrogenic (from surgical or medical treatment). Patients demonstrated a mean myopic shift (diopters) of -5.53 (0 to 2 years old) -4.68 (3 to 5 years old), -2.60 (6 to 8 years old), -0.42 (9 to 11 years), and -0.09 (> 11 years). There was no significant difference in myopic shift between eyes that were operated on and those that were not. No statistically significant differences in refractive change were found in comparing males to females, unilateral to bilateral cases, traumatic to non-traumatic cases, amblyopic to nonamblyopic eyes, primary to secondary intraocular lenses, or polymethylmethacrylate to acrylic IOLs. CONCLUSIONS The postoperative myopic shift in pediatric patients undergoing IOL implantation is greatest in the younger age groups and persists until at least 8 years of age. The mean rate of myopic shift also decreases with age. The refractive development of the pseudophakic eyes was not significantly different from the fellow phakic eyes.