Femtosecond laser combined with non-chopping rotation phacoemulsification technique for soft-nucleus cataract surgery: a prospective study

Soft-lens cataract surgeries are becoming increasingly common for cataract surgeons and chopping the soft nucleus using conventional techniques is problematic. We introduced a femtosecond laser combined with a non-chopping rotation phacoemulsification technique for soft-nucleus cataract surgery and evaluated the safety and efficacy of using this technique. Sixty-six patients with soft-nucleus cataracts ranging from grade 1~3 were divided into 3 groups based on nuclear staging. Those groups were further divided into three subgroups: femtosecond laser pretreatment combined with a non-chopping rotation phacoemulsification technique (subgroup 1), conventional manual cataract surgery with a non-chopping rotation technique (subgroup 2) and conventional manual cataract surgery with a quick-chop technique (subgroup 3).Patients were followed up at 1, 7, and 30 days after surgery. There was an 84.6% and a 63.34% reduction in ultrasound time and cumulative dissipated energy, respectively, between the subgroup 1 and the subgroup 3; and this was associated with a 36.1% and 29.7% reduction in endothelial cell loss and aqueous flare. There were no adverse events at the follow-up times. With its reduced ultrasound energy, endothelial cell loss and aqueous flare, the femtosecond laser pretreatment combined with a non-chopping rotation technique was more efficient than conventional manual cataract surgery for soft-nucleus cataracts.