Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was comparison of pre & post-operative corneal endothelial cell count after phacoemulsification using different irrigating solutions (balanced salt solution (BSS) versus ringer’s lactate (RL))

Design: It was a quasi-experimental study.

Study Settings: The study was conducted at Department of Ophthalmology Unit III, Institute of Ophthalmology Mayo Hospital/KEMU Lahore from 18/09/2018 to 17/03/2019.

Hypothesis: Ringer’s lactate solution causes more corneal endothelial cell damage as compared to the balanced salt solution when used as irrigating solution in patients being treated with phacoemulsification for senile cataract.

Material and Methods: This study involved 270 patients from both the genders divided into two treatment groups, having age between 45-60 years undergoing phacoemulsification. Male to female ratio was 1.08:1. Patients in Group I (n=135) were irrigated with Balanced Salt Solution while group II (n=135) were irrigated with Ringer’s Lactate. Outcome variable was pre & post-operative corneal endothelial cell count. Informed written consent was taken from all the patients.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.14±4.86 with male and female mean age was 53.45±4.79 and 52.80±4.92 respectively. There was no significant difference in endothelial cell count in both irrigation solution groups after 1st follow up (2574.93±240.84 vs. 2568.13±223.59, P-value=0.810) and after 2nd follow up (2502.70±237.71 vs. 2532.92±221.82, P-value= 0.281).

Conclusion: The results of this prospective study demonstrated that there was no significant difference in endothelial cell count in both the groups at one week and three months postoperatively.

Keywords: Corneal Endothelial Cells, Corneal Edema, Balanced Salt Solution (BSS), Ringer’s lactate (RL).