J A n U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 9 5
C
ataract surgery
may be the
world's most suc-
cessful and effi-
cient outpatient
surgery. The rate of serious com-
plications is minuscule, and many
surgeons can do the procedure in
under 10 minutes. Yet the quest to
produce technology that
improves outcomes and shortens
case times even more continues
on, as you'll see in "The Latest in
Cataract Extraction" on page 62.
Safe cataract surgery depends
on keeping fluidic volume inside the anterior chamber — the tiny space
where cataract surgery takes place — stable throughout the procedure.
Phaco machines do this by infusing irrigating solution at the same time
the surgeon is aspirating lens material. However, if fluid replacement
lags behind aspiration too much, the chamber will collapse and the cap-
sular bag will push forward.
"When you emulsify larger pieces of nucleus, it can obstruct the
lumen," says Mitch Schultz, MD, a Pasadena, Calif., ophthalmologist.
When the probe suddenly sucks that nucleus in and occlusion breaks
off, intraocular pressure can quickly drop and the posterior capsule can
What's New in
Cataract Extraction Technology
New devices and tweaks to current ones aim to make cataract surgery
so easy even a reporter could do it. Joe Madsen | Associate Editor
• EASY The latest platforms are making cataract extraction so simple and easy to control
that even Outpatient Surgery's Joe Madsen could perform the operation with a little guidance.
