Abstract
Purpose: :
To investigate the homeostatic response of postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) by analyzing postoperative IOP trends after small incision phacoemulsification.
Methods: :
This prospective analysis included 316 normotensive eyes treated with small incision phacoemulsification including posterior chamber IOL in-the-bag implantation. IOP was measured immediately after surgery and 2 hours, 4 hours, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month postoperatively.
Results: :
Patients were divided into three groups on the basis of immediate postoperative IOP. Group I had IOP <10 mmHg (N=88, 27.8%), Group 2 had IOP 10-21 mmHg (N=130, 41.1%), and Group 3 had IOP >21 mmHg (N=98, 31.0%). The mean IOPs of the three groups were 6.4±2.0 mmHg, 14.5±3.2 mmHg, and 27.0±4.6 mmHg, respectively immediately after surgery and significantly different (ANOVA, P<0.05). However, the IOP values were nearly normalized in three groups 2 to 4 hours after operation . Twenty-eight eyes (8.9%) had an IOP lower than 5 mmHg immediately after surgery in the absence of incision leakage. There were no postoperative complications related to hypotony. Thirty-one (9.8%) eyes had an IOP of at least 30 mmHg immediately after surgery. However, their IOP values had normalized 1 day after surgery.
Conclusions: :
n normal eyes that underwent uneventful phacoemulsification with posterior chamber IOL in-the-bag implantation, immediate postoperative high or low IOP did not affect re-equilibration to baseline.
Keywords: intraocular pressure • cataract • small incision cataract surgery