Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery in Soft and Hard Nuclear Cataracts: A Comparison of Effective Phacoemulsification Time

PURPOSE: To compare effective phacoemulsification time (EFX) in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) versus traditional quick chop phacoemulsification (QCP) in senile nuclear cataracts with different densities focusing on soft and hard ones. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective non-randomized comparative study was carried out in Al Watany Eye Hospital and Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt; 250 eyes with senile nuclear cataract (NC) were included and classified into two main groups, FLACS and QCP groups. Each of them was stratified according to nuclear density into three subgroups, subgroups I (Soft NC), II (Medium NC), and III (Hard NC). Sextans-softened fragmentation pattern was performed in the FLACS group. Total EFX utilized for nucleus disassembly and removal was recorded by the completion of each surgery. RESULTS: A total of 117 eyes were included in the FLACS group and 133 eyes in the QCP group. No significant difference in EFX was observed between the two groups (P = 0.228). Regarding subgroups, EFX showed no statistically significant difference between FLACS and QCP (P = 0.283) in soft NC. For hard NC, a trend to lower values of EFX in FLACS compared with QCP was found, but without statistically significant difference (P = 0.122). Only in medium NC were significantly lower values obtained in FLACS compared with QCP (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: When compared with QCP technique, FLACS can be used for advantages aside from EFX reduction, including astigmatic keratotomies, accurate sizing, and centration of capsulotomies especially in hard and soft nuclear cataracts. Significant reduction of total EFX with FLACS is most prominent only in medium-density nuclear cataracts.