Viscoelastic ‘mandatory’ in bimanual cataract surgery

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil — Viscoelastics play such a vital role in protecting the anterior chamber and preserving the endothelium when surgeons use a bimanual phacoemulsification technique that Jose Carlos Bernal, MD, “doesn’t consider it an option,” he told attendees here at the Brazilian Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

It is a tool, just as essential as any other, to perform cataract surgery and all the maneuvers it requires, he said. Surgeons may have the best equipment, “but if you don’t have good viscoelastics, you have nothing,” he said.

Choosing the right viscoelastic is key, Dr. Bernal said. Visualization is also better during the surgical procedure when the viscoelastic is applied to the cornea, he said.