Refractive Changes Induced by Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices in Cataract Surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Refractive Surgery
• Biomaterials

Background:

• Cataract surgery involves intraocular lens (IOL) implantation.
• Ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs) are used to maintain anterior chamber space during surgery.
• The impact of different OVDs on refractive outcomes is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate refractive changes after IOL implantation using different OVDs.
• To compare the effects of cohesive, intermediate, and dispersive OVDs on refractive outcomes.
• To assess the utility of intraoperative aberrometry (IA) in detecting OVD-induced refractive shifts.

Main Methods:

• A prospective case series of 10 patients undergoing cataract surgery.
• IA was used to measure refractive error after IOL implantation with Provisc, Vistagel, Viscoat, and Balanced Salt Solution (BSS) as a control.
• Statistical analysis compared refractive deviations among the OVD groups.

Main Results:

• Provisc (cohesive) showed the least refractive deviation (median SE -1.0 D).
• Viscoat (dispersive) induced the greatest refractive deviation (median SE -1.7 D) compared to BSS (median SE -0.1 D).
• Statistically significant differences in refractive deviations were observed between OVDs and BSS (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• OVD selection significantly influences refractive precision in cataract surgery.
• Cohesive OVDs (Provisc) result in more predictable refractive outcomes than dispersive OVDs (Viscoat).
• Further research is needed to optimize OVD use for refractive accuracy in diverse surgical scenarios.