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Novel bimanual technique enables surgeon to perform capsulorrhexis through small incisions
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BARCELONA — A novel bimanual technique for capsulorrhexis, using a special instrument, allows the incision size to be further reduced to less than 1 mm.
The newly developed instrument is simple and inexpensive. It has a spoon-like tip and an angulated handle that allows comfortable, safe maneuvering during the procedure.
Two of these instruments are used, one on top of the other, like two spoons, to grab and carry the capsular tissue around.
"Two corneal incisions are performed 90° apart. Then, the capsule is opened between 6 and 8 o'clock with a small tear," Thierry Amzallag, MD, explained at the meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. "The CCC is then performed on the horizontal plane, with the capsular tissue caught between the two instruments, the left above the right, directing the rhexis with a circular bimanual movement towards the end."
This bimanual shearing movement, rather than tearing, allows a more controlled performance of the rhexis, he noted.
Dr. Amzallag has performed more than 100 rhexes with this technique. The learning curve, he said, is very short.