PURPOSE: To compare intraoperative complications during phacoemulsification between sequential and combined procedures of vitrectomy and cataract surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 54 patients who underwent cataract surgery in a previously vitrectomized eye (sequential group) and 311 patients who underwent combined vitrectomy and cataract surgery (combined group). Primary outcome measures were intraoperative complications during phacoemulsification. Secondary measures were preoperative and intraoperative cataract gradings. RESULTS: The most common complication during phacoemulsification was posterior capsule rupture. The rate of posterior capsule rupture was higher in the sequential group (6 eyes, 11.4%) than in the combined group (14 eyes 4.5%, P = 0.049). Preoperative lens density (nuclear color and posterior subcapsular scores) was higher in the sequential group (P < 0.001). Intraoperative nuclear grading was higher compared with the preoperative one in the sequential group, but the two gradings did not differ in the combined group. CONCLUSION: Phacoemulsification in a vitrectomized eye is associated with a higher rate of posterior capsule rupture than the one in combined vitrectomy. These results may have been caused by hard nucleus cataract in a vitrectomized eye.
PURPOSE: To compare intraoperative complications during phacoemulsification between sequential and combined procedures of vitrectomy and cataract surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 54 patients who underwent cataract surgery in a previously vitrectomized eye (sequential group) and 311 patients who underwent combined vitrectomy and cataract surgery (combined group). Primary outcome measures were intraoperative complications during phacoemulsification. Secondary measures were preoperative and intraoperative cataract gradings. RESULTS: The most common complication during phacoemulsification was posterior capsule rupture. The rate of posterior capsule rupture was higher in the sequential group (6 eyes, 11.4%) than in the combined group (14 eyes 4.5%, P = 0.049). Preoperative lens density (nuclear color and posterior subcapsular scores) was higher in the sequential group (P < 0.001). Intraoperative nuclear grading was higher compared with the preoperative one in the sequential group, but the two gradings did not differ in the combined group. CONCLUSION: Phacoemulsification in a vitrectomized eye is associated with a higher rate of posterior capsule rupture than the one in combined vitrectomy. These results may have been caused by hard nucleus cataract in a vitrectomized eye.