Implantation of intraocular lens without viscoelastic agent in phacoemulsification cataract surgery

Purpose To observe the clinical effect of implanting intraocular lens (IOL) without viscoelastic agent in phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Methods A retrospective analysis of 87 patients (87 eyes) with senile cataracts was performed. According to whether viscoelastic agents were injected before IOL implantation, they were divided into 2 groups. The endothelial cell density (ECD), intraocular pressure (IOP), uncorrected distance visual acuities (UDVA), and operation complications were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively, and operation time was recorded. Results The experimental group (no viscoelastic group) contained 42 cases (42 eyes), and the control group (viscoelastic group) contained 45 cases (45 eyes). The operation time of the experimental group (7.261 +/- 0.75 s) was significantly shorter than that of the control group (7.802 +/- 1.14 s) (t = -2.629, P = 0.01). The IOP of the experimental group (16.71 +/- 2.04 mmHg) was significantly lower than that of the control group (19.56 +/- 8.98 mmHg) at 4 h after surgery (t = -2.065, P = 0.04). There was no statistically significant difference in UCDV, ECD between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05). There were no complications of intraoperative PCR in both groups. Conclusions Implantation of IOL without viscoelastic agent can shorten the operation time and reduce the occurrence of high IOP in the early postoperative period.