Effective Phacoemulsification Time and Macular Thickness Changes on Optical Coherence Tomography Following Uneventful Cataract Surgery

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of uneventful phacoemulsification on central macular thickness (CMT) using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) of macula and its correlation with effective phacoemulsification time (EFT) in healthy eyes. A prospective interventional, non-comparative study of 30 eyes of 28 patients who underwent uneventful cataract extraction at Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Giza Egypt between April 2015 and April 2016. The main outcome measures were EFT, pre and 1 month post-operative CMT, Best-corrected visual acuity. Results revealed that thirty eyes of 28 patients (16 males and 12 females) were included in the study with mean age of 58.57 ± 5.13 years (range: 48 – 70 years). Central macular thickness (CMT) changed from 260.40 ± 19.09 μm preoperatively (Range = 214 – 310 μm) to 279.00 ± 59.80 μm postoperatively (Range = 214 – 572 μm) with a statistically significant CMT change (p = 0.043). Effective phacoemulsification time was 5.64 ± 1.24 sec (range = 3.8 – 8.7 sec) A positive correlation was inferred between CMT change and EPT (p = 0.009). In conclusion, the risk of increased macular thickness is correlated strongly with the effective phacoemulsification time to remove the cataractous lens in uncomplicated phacoemulsification of healthy eyes.