Phacoemulsification and combined management of intraocular silicone oil

We report two techniques in which cataract extraction is carried out by phacoemulsification through a corneal incision. If silicone oil is to be removed, a posterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis is performed, allowing aspiration of oil through the capsulorhexis followed by lens implantation into the remaining capsular bag. If silicone oil is to be left in situ, the remaining capsule is removed, converting the cataract extraction to an intracapsular-type procedure that retains the advantages of small incision surgery. These techniques offer good improvement in vision and retinal view with more rapid rehabilitation than conventional large incision surgery. The 20% retinal redetachment is comparable to that of other studies and we have not encountered any other significant complications with these techniques.