Resumen

CURBELO CUNILL, Luis et al. Results of cataract surgery using quick chop phacoemulsification. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.2. ISSN 0864-2176.

Cataract is mostly considered a remediable cause of visual acuity reduction. In the course of time, technical improvements have been implemented to make cataract surgery relatively easy and safe, and to support successful visual rehabilitation mainly when intraocular lens implant is added. Since then, a number of alternatives for dividing the crystalline nucleus emerged, but few are really necessary. This paper was aimed at describing the functional and anatomic results of quick chop phacoemulsification, the age of patients, preoperative and postoperative corrected visual acuity, preoperative and postoperative astigmatism, preoperative and postoperative microscopy, ultrasound time and complications. A prospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in 146 patients (eyes) operated on from January 2004 to January 2006 at the Center of Eye Microsurgery of “Ramon Pando Ferrer” Cuban Ophthalmologic Institute. The universe of study was all the patients diagnosed with pre-senile and senile cataract, who also met the selection criteria and accepted to be operated on by this technique. With the objective of evaluating the technique effectiveness, the following variables were analyzed: age, sex, corrected visual acuity and refractive cylinder, endothelial microscopy, ultrasound time and most frequent complications. These data were studied through contingency tables using absolute and relative frequencies and medians. Student’s t test served to compare them. It was found that cataract predominated in males over 60 years of age; average corrected visual acuity was better after surgery, the refractive cylinder barely changed, the ultrasound time of application was within the normal range and depending on the core hardness, the loss of endothelial cells was neglectable and the most frequent surgical complication was capsular rupture.

Palabras clave : Catarata; facoemulsificación; astigmatismo.