[Capsulorhexis Real-Life - Experienced Surgeon versus Femto Laser Assisted Cataract Surgery (FLACS) as Reported in Literature].

BACKGROUND: Capsulorhexis is one of the most important steps in cataract surgery. Good centration, circular overlap in sufficient size and a circular edge without tears result in good centration of the intraocular lens (IOL). In this study, the capsulorhexis results of an experienced surgeon are compared with reported data in femtolaser assisted cataract surgery (FLACS).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 105 consecutive operations were photographically documented; in 81 cases size and overlap were analysed retrospectively. The surgeon's personal anterior capsular tear rate was taken from the EUREQUO database.

RESULTS: Average rhexis size was 5.03 ± 0.3 mm; the difference between the two measured diameters was 0.28 ± 0.18 mm. Circular overlap was found in 88.9% of cases. No radial tears were observed in 8000 operations in EUREQUO, resulting in a rate of less than 0.0125% in manual surgery.

CONCLUSIONS: The overlap rate of manual surgery was comparable to FLACS; whether the slightly 'rounder' capsulotomy is clinically relevant remains unclear. The risk of an anterior capsular tear is very low in the hands of an experienced surgeon and even lower than with FLACS.