Implantation of intraocular lens without viscoelastic agent in phacoemulsification cataract surgery

Purpose: To observe the clinical effect of implanting intraocular lens (IOL) without viscoelastic agent in phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 87 patients (87 eyes) with senile cataracts was performed. According to whether viscoelastic agents were injected before IOL implantation, they were divided into 2 groups. The endothelial cell density (ECD), intraocular pressure (IOP), uncorrected distance visual acuities (UDVA), and operation complications were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively, and operation time was recorded.

Results: The experimental group (no viscoelastic group) contained 42 cases (42 eyes), and the control group (viscoelastic group) contained 45 cases (45 eyes). The operation time of the experimental group (7.261 ± 0.75 s) was significantly shorter than that of the control group (7.802 ± 1.14 s) (t = -2.629, P = 0.01). The IOP of the experimental group (16.71 ± 2.04 mmHg) was significantly lower than that of the control group (19.56 ± 8.98 mmHg) at 4 h after surgery (t = -2.065, P = 0.04). There was no statistically significant difference in UCDV, ECD between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05). There were no complications of intraoperative PCR in both groups.

Conclusions: Implantation of IOL without viscoelastic agent can shorten the operation time and reduce the occurrence of high IOP in the early postoperative period.