J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2007 Jun;48(6):761-767.

The Surgical Result of Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery according to Pupil Size

• Cho YK
• Kim EC
• Kim MS

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate surgical results of phacoemulsification cataract surgery with respect to pupil size and iris retractors and to compare the effects of iris retractors according to the pupil size.
METHODS
This retrospective study included 90 eyes that underwent phacoemulsification cataract surgery. All of the eyes had a maximally dilated pupil size of 7 mm or smaller.
RESULTS
When the patients were evaluated according to pupil size, we found no difference in BCVA (best-corrected visual acuity) and phaco power x time between patients who had surgery involving iris retractors and those who did not. However, in patients with pupil sizes 3 mm or smaller, we did observe a statistically significant decrease in endothelial cell density (CD) when the iris retractor was used compared to when the retractor was not used (p<0.05). A comparison of preoperative and postoperative BCVA measurements revealed a significant BCVA increase in eyes with pupils larger than 3 mm. In contrast, in eyes with pupils smaller than 5 mm, significant decreases in CD were found when the preoperative and postoperative measurements were compared.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we found that the iris retractor is useful for protecting corneal endothelial cells when the pupil size is smaller than 3 mm.

Keyword

Iris retractor; Phacoemulsification; Pupil size

MeSH Terms

Cataract*
Endothelial Cells
Humans
Iris
Phacoemulsification*
Pupil*
Retrospective Studies