Comparison of divide and conquer and phaco-chop techniques during fluid-based phaco-emulsification.

PURPOSE To determine whether, similar to ultrasound phaco-emulsification, applied energy and surgery time decrease using phaco-chop nucleus fragmentation method compared to divide and conquer technique using the fluid-based system. METHODS This prospective, comparative, randomized clinical study included patients with cataract who were randomly assigned to use either standard divide and conquer technique (25 eyes of 25 patients, Group 1) or Nagahara phaco-chop maneuver (25 eyes of 25 patients, Group 2) during fluid-based phaco-emulsification. Surgical parameters were recorded and patients were examined 1 day, 10 days, and 1 month after surgery. Statistical analyses were performed using the paired test of Wilcoxon. RESULTS Fluid-based time, mean fluid-based magnitude, effective fluid-based time, and the number of pulses were significantly less using phaco-chop technique compared to divide and conquer method (p<0.001). Surgery time was similar using the two nucleofractis techniques (p=0.97). Visual acuities showed no statistical differences between the two groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Nuclear fragmentation can be performed with Nagahara phaco-chop technique using the fluid-based system as well. The applied fluid-based energy decreases compared to divide and conquer method. However, surgery time is not reduced due to the difficulties reaching the full occlusion necessary to hold the nucleus during the chop maneuver.