Factors influencing aqueous flare after cataract surgery and its evaluation with laser flare photometry

Abstract

Despite the refinement of modern cataract surgery, postoperative inflammation still constitutes a substantial amount of visual morbidity worldwide. A surrogate for intraocular inflammation and blood–aqueous barrier breakdown can be objectively quantified by Laser flare photometry (LFP). This review outlines the utility of LFP in assessing the assessment of post-cataract surgery inflammation. It highlights the impact of preoperative pathological states such as uveitis and diabetes, intraoperative techniques, including efficient phacoemulsification and direct comparisons between postoperative anti-inflammatory regimes. There is a large interobserver variation in the subjective flare measurement after cataract surgery and the continued use of LFP amongst other objective, noninvasive measurements of intraocular inflammation, particularly in the further development of cataract surgery, is recommended.