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Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery may alter aqueous humor pH values
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Researchers found an acidic shift in aqueous humor pH values during femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery due to cavitation bubbles produced during the procedure.
The researchers prospectively compared aqueous humor pH values in 29 patients randomized to femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery with the Catalys platform (Abbott Medical Optics) or conventional phacoemulsification.
Aqueous humor samples were obtained through the paracentesis in both groups.
Mean pH after standard phaco was 7.42 ± 0.07, within normal range; after femtosecond laser-assisted surgery, mean pH was 6.53 ± 0.09, a statistically significant difference between the groups that suggested more acidic levels in the femtosecond group.
The researchers attributed the acidic shift to “cavitation bubbles derived from the photodisruption process in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery ... as a result of the transformation of carbon dioxide to carbonic acid.”
“In our opinion, this acid shift has no clinical effects because of the short time between acidification and filling the anterior chamber with balanced salt solution during femtosecond laser surgery, and because chronic acidification (eg, pH values of approximately 5.3 pH during therapies with dorzolamide) has no clinical side effects,” the researchers wrote. – by Kate Sherrer
Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Rossi M, et al. J Refract Surg. 2015;doi:10.3928/1081597X-20150623-04.
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