Associations in corticocapsular adhesions

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the patient-related factors that contribute to intraoperative corticocapsular adhesions (CCA) during phacoemulsification cataract extraction (PCE). Methods: Prospective, single surgeon, multi-year study of consecutive patients undergoing PCE was performed. At the conclusion of each procedure, the surgeon recorded the CCA and perceived surgeon stress score. Patient variables included gender, age, diabetes mellitus, intake of oral alpha blockers, floppy iris, laterality, pseudo-exfoliation, and intraocular lens power. Results: During the 10-year study, 1097 eyes underwent surgery and CCA was diagnosed intraoperatively in 41 eyes. On multi-variable analysis, the following patient characteristics were associated with intraoperative CCA: diabetes mellitus (p = 0.002), age >80 years (p = 0.002), presence of posterior capsular cataract (p = 0.046), severe nuclear sclerosis (p = 0.004), and absence of pseudo-exfoliation (p = 0.043). Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus, advanced age and posterior subcapsular cataract are associated with CCA necessitating generous repetitive hydrodissection.