Effect of trabecular aspiration on early intraocular pressure rise after cataract surgery

To evaluate the efficacy of a new trabecular aspiration technique on intraocular pressure (IOP) immediately after cataract surgery.

University Eye Hospital of Cologne, Germany.

This prospective, double-masked study comprised 48 of 100 patients having extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) who were randomly assigned to a study group. In these patients, 180 degrees of the inferior circumference of the chamber angle was treated with negative suction pressure ranging between 100 and 200 mm Hg. The other 52 patients served as a control group. Intraocular pressure was measured preoperatively and early (5 to 7 hours) and late (12 to 48 hours) postoperatively.

There was a significant mean increase in IOP from the preoperative to early postoperative period in both the control group (20.8 mm Hg) and the treatment group (7.4 mm Hg). There was no significant difference between preoperative and late postoperative pressures in either group. A one-way analysis of covariance of the changes in pressure from the preoperative to early postoperative period showed significantly less increase (P = .0041) in the aspiration than in the control group.

Trabecular aspiration was effective in reducing the amount of IOP increase in the immediate period after ECCE.