Comparison of Phaco-chop and Divide and Conquer Methods in Grade 3-4 Cataract Patients

Purpose: To compare the outcomes of Grade3-4 cataract surgery performed with 2 phacoemulsification techniques (phaco-chop and divide-and-conquer).

Setting: Ministry of Health Tuzla State Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.

Design: Prospective randomized clinical trial.

Methods: This is prospective and randomized(double blind) study cataract surgery using two different techniques of nuclear fragmentation performed at the Tuzla State Hospital.100 patients eye with nuclear density from grade 3 to 4 were randomly subdivided into 2 groups (phaco-chop and divide-and-conquer). Intraoperative measurements included Phaco time (PT), effective phaco time(EPT), mean phaco power(MPP). Clinical measurements included preoperative and postoperative 1.day , 7. day, 30. day, and 60.day corrected distance visual acuity(BCVA), time to achieve BCVA, corneal edema rate and time to disappear corneal edema.

Results: Intraoperative measurements showed significantly less PT, EPT, and corneal edema with the phaco-chop technique than divide-and-conquer techniques in the grade 3-4 cataract density group (P<0.05).

Conclusions: 2 techniques may be effective for cataract surgery in mild and moderate cataracts. However, in eyes with hard cataract the phaco-chop technique can be more effective for lens removal, with less Phaco time and corneal edema, then the divide-and-conquer technique.

Financial Disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material, method or device mentioned.