The clinical study of Healon 5 in phacoemulsification and IOL implantation

To compare a new ophthalmic viscoelastic device (OVD) Healon 5 with two other kinds of OVDs commonly used in China during phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in terms of removal time, intraocular pressure, corneal and anterior chamber response.

This prospective randomized study, in which patients and observers are masked, comprises niety eyes. They were randomly divided into 3 groups with different OVDs. Healon 5 (sodium hyaluronate 5,000 2.3%) was compared with Healon GV (sodium hyaluronate 7,000 1.4%) and Iviz (sodium hyaluronate 1.0%). The surgeries were performed with temporal corneal incision, phacoemulsification in situ and foldable lens intracapsular implantation. The characteristic and the removal time of the viscoelastic material as well as the postoperative IOP, corneal reaction and anterior chamber reactions of the eyes were observed preoperatively and 24 hrs postoperatively. Exclusion criteria were glaucoma, a preoperative dilated pupil diameter smaller than 5.0 mm, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, significant corneal pathology or a history of uveitis.

The removal time was 47.42 +/- 13.09 seconds in Healon 5, 16.50 +/- 5.45 in Healon GV and 15.83 +/- 7.40 in Iviz. The removal time of Healon 5 group was significantly longer than that of the other groups (P = 0.000). There is no significant IOP change 24 hours postoperatively and the difference of intraocular pressure among three groups was not significant (P > 0.05). Healon 5 group had the slightest corneal and anterior chamber response, followed by Healon GV and Iviz.

Although takes longer time to remove, Healon 5 is an ideal viscoelastic material for its superior space maintenance capacity and high dispersity which provides superior protection of endothelial cells compared to Healon GV and Iviz.