Influence of the quality of viscoelastic removal on phacoemulsification results. Part 1. Type of the postoperative period course depending on the quality of viscoelastic removal in phacoemulsification

BACKGROUND: The reasons for the development of postoperative reactive inflammation under optimal conditions for the operation are errors in the surgical technique and the presence of viscoelastic residues. The likelihood of developing ophthalmic hypertension exists with the use of viscoelastic of any type. Its incomplete evacuation can be explained by the difficult visualization due to its transparency. Analysis of the dependence of the postoperative period course on the quality of viscoelastic removal at phacoemulsification can be considered to be relevant and expedient. AIM: The aim was to study the type of the postoperative period course depending on the quality of viscoelastics removal at phacoemulsification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 104 eyes of randomly chosen patients who underwent femto-laser assisted phacoemulsification, divided into 2 groups according to ophthalmic viscoelastics characteristics (colored or transparent). Both groups were split into 2 subgroups each depending on method of viscoelastics removal. Tonometry and biomicroscopy were performed 3 hours after phacoemulsification and on the post-op Day 1. Patients with Tyndall effect were examined daily until its disappearance. RESULTS: At comparable preoperative IOP indices, its elevation 3 hours after surgery took place in subgroups 2a and 2b, the highest being in subgroup 2a. The greatest number of eyes with Tyndall effect, at all follow-up periods, was found in subgroup 2a, the lowest in subgroup 1b. The total number of eyes with keratopathy (as epitheliopathy) observed 3 hours after surgery was 7, four of them being from subgroup 2a. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted research showed that the type of early postoperative period course of phacoemulsification depends on visualization possibility of the viscoelastic and of the method of its removal. Minimal changes of hydrodynamics and maximal number of eyes with absence of inflammation took place when using colored viscoelastic and impulse irrigation method.