Intraoperative and Postoperative Outcomes of Three Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices During Phacoemulsification

Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices (OVDs) play a crucial role during phacoemulsification, by providing endothelial protection, maintaining space, as well as facilitating surgical maneuvers, including IOL implantation. Equally important is the ease of use, good visualisation and easy removal of the OVD from the eye. Currently, 3 popularly used OVDs as a single injection sufficing for surgery are: Healon 5, DiscoVisc, and Celoftal (2% hydroxypropylmethylcellulose). Whereas, there are studies showing efficacy of each of these in clinical scenarios, there is no randomized trial comparing intraoperative performance and postoperative outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare intraoperative performance and postoperative outcomes following microcoaxial phacoemulsification when using one of the three OVDs

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age related, uncomplicated senile cataracts

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of glaucoma,
• shallow anterior chamber (ACD < 2.1mm),
• pupillary dilatation < 6mm,
• extremely dense cataracts,
• posterior polar cataract,
• subluxated cataract,
• white mature cataract,
• diabetic retinopathy,
• high myopia (defined as AL > 25mm),
• uveitis, or
• previous ocular trauma/surgery.