[Postoperative use of YAG laser for cataract surgery]

To study and analyze the postoperative use of YAG laser for cataract surgery, the method, effects and complications of laser posterior capsulotomy.

Four hundred and fifty-one eyes out of 4 600 eyes with phacoemulsification in a single horizontal groove manner were dealt with YAG laser for postoperative complications, and of them, 380 eyes had a posterior capsulotomy with a two-steps method: posterior capsular circular incision and push down of the capsular chip. Forty-two eyes were treated for anterior membrane on the intraocular lens (IOL) by circular resection and peeling it off. The other 29 eyes were treated for different complications.

The rate of YAG laser treatment for postoperative complications was 9.8% and of them, the rate of posterior capsulotomy was 8.3%. The rate of eyes with posterior capsular opacification and one or more other complications was 14.2%. The mean energy of a single pulse for posterior capsular resection was (1.21 +/- 0.31) mJ, and the mean total energy was (52.44 +/- 14.62) mJ; the mean energy of a single pulse for push down of the capsular chip was (2.12 +/- 0.43) mJ, and the mean total energy was (50.88 +/- 10.32) mJ. The average naked visual acuity after posterior capsulotomy was increased to 0.58 from 0.32 before the laser treatment, and corrected visual acuity was 0.85. The energy of a single pulse was 1.0 to 1.4 mJ for anterior membrane resection of IOL, and the mean total energy was (56.28 +/- 32.74) mJ. No obvious damage or decentration of the IOL was found. After the treatment, the IOP in 95.3% of eyes was kept in normal range. Only did 2 eyes suffer from retinal detachment in follow-up.

YAG laser therapy for postoperative complications is easy to control, safe, effective, and has less complications. Besides the posterior capsulotomy, some other complications also can be cured with it.