A study on measurement of central corneal thickness changes in postoperative period of phacoemulsification cataract surgery

Abstract

Purpose: Phacoemulsification has gained its importance with time due to its various benefits; however, it has one worrisome side effect which results due to endothelial pump failure, following surgery being corneal edema. This manifests as changes in central corneal thickness (CCT) which may further lead to falsely elevated intraoperative pressure (IOP) and ultimately hampering the vision; hence, the purpose of the study was conducted to find out the changes in CCT value following surgery. Materials and Methods: Randomly, 50 patients were considered for the study. It was a prospective hospital-based study, wherein patients were evaluated over a period of 1 month. Patients with right eye cataract considered as the case and left eye serving as the control were taken for the study. CCT measurements were recorded using pachymeter preoperatively, 1 h postoperatively, and on day 1, day 7, day 14, day 21, and day 30 postoperatively, and the findings were recorded. Surgical Procedure: Patients with right eye cataract grading of 2–3 nuclear sclerosis were taken for phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Before taking for the surgery, the preoperative CCT measurements using pachymeter were taken in all the quadrants and noted. Phacoemulsification was performed using the bevel-down phaco tip. Machine used was Oertli phacoemulsification catarhex. Sodium hyaluronate 1.4% was used as the viscoelastic substance. Phacoemulsification of the nucleus was performed with the help of phaco chop technique, with a 0° 20-gauge phaco tip. The nucleus was stabilized with phacoemulsification tip bevel down. The nucleus was broken down into several pieces and was aspirated and irrigated. Incision was secured with stromal hydration and eye was patched. Postoperatively, patients were advised to put topical antibiotic and steroids. After an uneventful phacoemulsification surgery, CCT was measured by the same surgeon immediately 1 h postoperatively, and patients were followed up on postoperative day 1, day 7, day 14, day 21, and day 30. Results: The CCT measured with the mean value of 606.04 ± 6 μm in postoperative day 1; on day 14, the CCT mean value was 553.81 ± 4 μm, and over a period of 1 month, the CCT value mean value was 544 ± 2 μm. It can be observed that the CCT measurement gradually decreases with time and returns to near-normal state on day 30. Conclusion: In our study, it was noted that the CCT value decreases gradually and returns back to near-normal value on day 30.

Keywords

• central corneal thickness
• pachymetry
• phacoemulsification