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Study: MICS with 21-gauge phaco needle yields less surgically induced astigmatism
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SAN FRANCISCO — A 21-gauge phaco needle tip has a smaller diameter than a 20-gauge tip, yet it has the same intraoperative efficiency without clogging when used in microincision cataract surgery with transversal ultrasound, a speaker said here.
“It provides better postoperative wound morphology and better control of surgically induced astigmatism,” Ahmed Assaf, MD, FRCSEd, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
Assaf presented data from a prospective, randomized, contralateral, comparative study of 64 consecutive eyes of 32 patients with grade 3 to 4 cataracts, according to the LOCS III grading system. Patients were randomized to either a 21-gauge group or a 20-gauge group. The same surgeon performed phacoemulsification using the WhiteStar Signature platform with Ellips FX (Abbott Medical Optics) in transversal mode through a 2.2-mm incision in all patients.
Ultrasound power was slightly higher in the 21-gauge group, Assaf said, but ultrasound time was almost identical in both groups. Both groups had some epithelial and endothelial gapping in regard to the incision morphology, but there was not a significant difference between the groups. However, there was statistically significantly less surgically induced astigmatism in the 21-gauge group, he said.
“There’s a global growing interest in microincisional cataract surgery,” Assaf said, citing faster visual recovery and less surgically induced astigmatism as reasons.
Disclosure: Assaf has no relevant financial disclosures.