Impact Of Anterior Chamber Maintainer Use On Posterior Capsule Rupture During Phacoemulsification At Hillel Yaffe Medical Center: A 6-Year Retrospective Study
Published 2026 - 44th Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: POCAT174 | Type: Free paper | DOI: 10.82333/m3fw-p340
Authors: Dr Yara Gassan Karawani 1 , Dr Noora Dbayat* 2 , Dr Beatrice Tiosano 2 , Dr Rana hanna 2
1Ophthalmology ,Hillel Yaffe Medical Center,Hadera,Israel;Faculty of Medicine,Technion - Israel Institute of Technology,Haifa,Israel, 2Ophthalmology ,Hillel Yaffe Medical Center,Hadera,Israel
Purpose
To evaluate the effect of anterior chamber maintainer (ACM) use on the incidence of posterior capsule rupture (PCR) during phacoemulsification cataract surgery
Setting
Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Israel
Methods
This retrospective study included 7,792 consecutive cataract surgeries performed between 2020 and 2025 in patients aged ≥18 years. Of these, 4,320 were performed with ACM and 3,472 without ACM. The incidence of intraoperative posterior capsule rupture (PCR) was compared between surgeries performed with and without ACM. Vitreous loss occurring in PCR cases was also recorded
Results
Overall PCR occurred in 100 cases (1.28%). PCR was observed in 57 cases (1.32%) in the ACM group and 43 cases (1.24%) in the non-ACM group (odds ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 0.72–1.59, p=0.83). Vitreous loss occurred in 34 of 57 PCR cases (59.6%) in the ACM group and in 30 of 43 PCR cases (69.8%) in the non-ACM group (odds ratio 0.64, 95% confidence interval 0.28–1.48, p=0.40).
Conclusions
In this large 6-year series of 7,792 cataract surgeries, ACM use was not associated with a statistically significant reduction in posterior capsule rupture nor in vitreous loss. PCR rates were low and comparable between surgeries performed with and without ACM. These findings suggest that while ACM may enhance intraoperative chamber stability, its routine use does not independently reduce capsule-related complications in contemporary phacoemulsification surgery.