Safety and prognosis of phacoemulsification using active sentry and active fluidics with different IOP settings - a...

To explore the impact of different intraoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) settings on the safety and prognosis in phacoemulsification.

Age related cataract patients who met the inclusion criteria and underwent phacoemulsification by using active sentry handpiece and active fluidics system. According to different intraoperative IOP settings during surgery, they were randomly divided into two groups: the 20mmHg group and the 60mmHg group. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), total U/S time, active surge mitigation (ASM), estimated fluid usage (EFU) as well as the changes in corneal thickness (CT), corneal epithelial layer thickness (CELT) and endothelial cell density (ECD) were collected. The post-operative follow-up was only 1 day.

A total of 110 cases (110 eyes) were included in the study. There were 55 eyes in each group. There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative BCVA (p = 0.839). The CDE, total U/S time and EFU during surgery were (5.22 ± 3.31), (30.60 ± 15.06), (45.07 ± 12.68) and (4.70 ± 2.83), (27.39 ± 13.75), (42.38 ± 11.93) in the 20mmHg group and 60mmHg group (p = 0.381, 0.246, 0.254). The ASM during surgery in the 20mmHg group and 60mmHg group were (0.95 ± 2.77) and (7.24 ± 6.34), respectively. The 20mmHg group showed a significant decrease in ASM (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in the changes in CT, CELT and ECD before and after surgery between the two groups (p = 0.913, 0.825, 0.624). Both groups did not experience any intraoperative complications, such as posterior capsule rupture.

A lower IOP setting of 20 mmHg can significantly reduce the occurrence of intraoperative surges during phacoemulsification. And there was no increase in rate of complications.

The trial registration number is ChiCTR2100050240. The registered date is August 24th, 2021.