Comparison Study between Ultra-Chopper and Divide & Conquer Techniques

Background: Hard brunescent nuclei are difficult to chop with traditional techniques, because leathery tough strands may connect the posterior surface and span across the fragments, which poses a challenge to completely divide the nuclei. The ultra-chopping technique was designed to mitigate this issue. Purpose: To compare the intraoperative parameters between Ultra-Chopper and Divide & Conquer Techniques. Setting: This study was performed at Hospital Oftalmológico de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil. Patients and Methods: A prospective, randomized and comparative study. Patients with the diagnosis of dense cataract and surgical extraction programmed were divided into two groups: Ultra-Chopper and Divide & Conquer. Intraoperative data were collected and submitted for the statistical analysis. Results: 36 eyes were included, 19 eyes with Ultra-Chopper and 17 eyes with Divide & Conquer. Groups were statistically equivalent in age and nucleus density. There were no surgical complications. Torsional time and cumulative dissipated energy were significantly reduced in the ultra-chopper group. The ultra-chopper group had less total case time, fluid usage and aspiration (ASP) time. Conclusion: The ultra-chopper tech- nique can reduce ultrasound energy dissipation during cataract surgery, and decrease case time, fluid usage and ASP time.