A retrospective randomized study to compare the energy delivered using CDE with different techniques and OZil settings by different surgeons in phacoemulsification

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Authors: Ming Chen, Henry W Sweeney, Becky Luke, Mindy Chen, et al.

Published Date July 2009 , Volume 2009:3

Ming Chen¹, Henry W Sweeney², Becky Luke³, Mindy Chen⁴, Mathew Brown⁵

¹University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; ²Research Support Services, the Queens Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; ³Surgical Suite, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; ⁴University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; ⁵University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

Abstract: Cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) was used with Infiniti^® Vision System (Alcon Labs) as an energy delivery guide to compare four different phaco techniques and phaco settings. The supracapsular phaco technique and burst mode is known for efficiency and surgery is faster compared with the old phaco unit. In this study, we found that supracapsular phaco with burst mode had the least CDE in both cataract and nuclear sclerosis cataract with the new Infiniti^® unit. We suggest that CDE can be used as one of the references to modify technique and setting to improve outcome for surgeons, especially for new surgeons.

Keywords: CDE (cumulative dissipated energy), cataract surgery, phacoemulsification, supracapsular, burst mode, Divide–Conquer

General overview: This study is to promote the utilization of a cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) device in cataract surgery equipment (phacoemulsifiers) and to find a more efficient surgical technique with this device. The device was designed by Alcon (USA) to monitor the energy delivered during cataract surgery. The CDE will show at the end of phacoemulsification. The more energy per second shown by the CDE unit, the more time and energy expended to remove the cataract. Previous studies show that increases in energy used during cataract removal is associated with damage to the cornea. We compared four surgeons who used different techniques and settings in phacoemulsification in a single surgical center with the same CDE unit. The surgeon using supracapsular phacoemulsification with the burst mode had the least mean CDE compared to other techniques, indicating that this technique may be more efficient. The CDE can be a great tool for surgeons to improve their techniques and can be one of the measurements for quality control in cataract surgery.

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