Abstract:AIM: To analyze the advantages of capsulorhexis-chop forceps assisted prechop(CCFP)technique in hard cataract phacoemulsification.
METHODS: Prospective study. A total of 100 cases(100 eyes)with age-related grade IV hard cataract were included and randomly divided into 2 groups according to random number table, with 50 patients(50 eyes)in CCFP technique group(group A)and 50 cases(50 eyes)in stop-and-chop technique group(group B). The corneal endothelial cell count before and after operation, intraoperative US time, postoperative corneal endothelial cell loss rate, corneal edema grade at 1 and 7d and best corrected visual acuity(BCVA)were compared and statistically analyzed.
RESULTS: The mean US time of group A was lower than that of group B [26.66(16, 40)s vs. 36.12(23, 46)s; Z=-5.56, P<0.01]. The mean corneal endothelial cell count in group A was higher than that in group B at 3mo after operation(2308.12±368.18cell/mm2 vs. 2104.06±379.87cell/mm2; t=2.728, P=0.008), and the loss rate of corneal endothelial cells in group A was lower than that in group B at 3mo after operation [10%(8%, 12%)vs. 17%(14%, 20%); Z=13.231, P<0.01]. The number of eyes with corneal edema of grade 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 on 1d after surgery was 0, 23, 21, 6 and 0 in group A, respectively, while it was 0, 9, 26, 15 and 0 respectively in group B. Corneal edema in group A was less than that in group B(Z=10.514, P=0.005). The BCVA of group A was better than that of group B at 1d after operation, and there was significant difference in the number of eyes with different BCVA grades between the two groups(Z=7.176, P=0.029). There was no significant difference in the number of eyes with different grades of BCVA between the two groups at 3mo after surgery(Z=2.377, P=0.372).
CONCLUSION: Compared with the stop-and-chop technique, CCFP technique uses less ultrasonic energy, has less damage to corneal endothelial cells and is suitable for hard cataract surgery.
