Surgical time and efficacy of illuminated chopper-assisted cataract surgery involving miosis after femtosecond laser pretreatment

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the illuminated chopper-assisted cataract surgery in terms of shortening the surgical time in eyes with miosis after femtosecond laser pretreatment. Methods: As retrospective study, three hundred thirty-six eyes of 336 consecutive patients who underwent the femtosecond laser and illuminated chopper-assisted cataract surgery were included. Cases with pupil less than 6 mm after femtosecond laser pretreatment were included in the miosis group. Pupil diameter, surgical time, and improved efficacy (100/surgical timexpupil size) were compared between eyes with and without miosis. Results: Of 336 eyes, 20 were included in the miosis group (6.0%). Pupil diameter was smaller in eyes with miosis than in those without miosis (5.23 +/- 0.38 mm vs 7.35 +/- 0.64 mm, p < 0.001); however, surgical time was not different (6.86 +/- 0.73 min vs 6.60 +/- 1.27 min, p=0.071) between the two groups. Mechanical pupil dilations were not needed in any cases. As a result, improved efficacy was calculated to be higher in patients with miosis (2.83 vs 2.14, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In terms of surgical time and improved efficacy, using the illuminated chopper simplified cataract surgery involving miosis after femtosecond laser pretreatment. The use of an illuminated chopper is expected to be a good solution for femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgeries.