A Comparative Study between Air Bubble Tamponade Alone versus Air Bubble Tamponade with Internal Fluid Aspiration for Nonplanar Descemet's Membrane Detachment after Phacoemulsification

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of air bubble tamponade alone versus air bubble tamponade with internal fluid aspiration for nonplanar Descemet's membrane detachment after clear corneal incision phacoemulsification. METHODS: This study is a prospective, intervention, comparative randomised clinical trial, conducted at a private eye centre, Ismailia, Egypt, from March 2019 to March 2020. It contained 30 eyes of 24 patients who had postphacoemulsification nonplanar Descemet's membrane detachment involving the periphery and the central area of the cornea (>50% of the cornea) with corneal oedema. The patients were divided into two groups: group A: patients with nonplanar DMD affecting the central cornea treated by air bubble tamponade only and group B: patients with nonplanar DMD affecting the central cornea treated by air bubble tamponade augmented by internal fluid aspiration. Trial Registration: This trial was registered at www.pactr.org and the identification number for the registry is PACTR202006612296119. RESULTS: During the 12-month study period, this study included 30 eyes (24 patients) out of 1356 phaco surgeries with postphacoemulsification nonplanar Descemet's membrane detachment. Six patients had DMD in both eyes, eight patients had DMD in the right eye, and ten patients had DMD in the left eye. All patients have successful surgeries without complications. The calculated incidence rate for visually significant DMD was 2.2% per year. The mean ± SD time interval from cataract surgery to the primary intervention was 4.2 ± 1.1 days. Descemet's membrane was attached in 56.25% of patients in group A (9 out of 16 eyes) and 92.6% of patients in group B (13 out of 14 eyes) with a minimum of one-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Air descemetopexy combined with the internal fluid aspiration demonstrated to be more efficient than air descemetopexy only to treat Descemet's membrane detachment following phacoemulsification. It should be tried before planning other major surgeries in patients with severe Descemet's membrane detachment.