Study examines efficacy of compound electrolyte intraocular irrigating solution

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Ophthalmologists frequently use intraocular irrigating solution during cataract surgery.

A team of researchers with the Tianjin Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Disease in Tianjin, China, examined the difference and relationship between optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical quality analysis system (OQAS) parameters induced by compound electrolyte intraocular irrigating solution (CEIIS) or Ringer lactate (RL) solution during uncomplicated cataract surgery.

The study was published recently in International Ophthalmology.

The researchers included 200 senior cataract patients randomly divided into the CEIIS and RL groups (N = 100 patients/group). According to the study, the anterior chamber was irrigated by CEIIS or RL during phacoemulsification.¹

According to the study, patients were subdivided into diabetes mellitus (DM)+ and DM− groups. The central macular thickness (CMT), hyperreflective foci (HF), modulation transfer function cutoff frequency (MTF cutoff), Strehl ratio (SR), objective scatter index (OSI), and OQAS values (OVs) at 100%, 20%, and 9% contrast levels were measured preoperatively and 1 day and 1 week after operation using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and OQAS II, respectively.

Researchers noted the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was assessed using the Snellen scale, followed by statistical analysis of its logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution.

Researchers found there were no meaningful differences in clinical characteristics between the CEIIS and RL groups. Both groups exhibited notably increased postoperative CMT, MTF cutoff, SR, OV at 100%, 20%, and 9% contrast levels, and reduced OSI, indicating CEIIS and RL improved postoperative visual quality.¹

Moreover, the researchers found in the study that CEIIS topped RL solution in improving postoperative visual quality, decelerating the increase of macular HF numbers and CMT in DM+ patients and postoperative BCVA. There was no difference between CEIIS and RL in long-term vision improvement.

“CEIIS surpasses RL in postoperative visual recovery and retards increases of macular HF numbers and CMT in senior DM+ cataract patients,” the researchers concluded.

Reference:

1. Guo, C., Tian, F., Ren, D. et al. Compound electrolyte intraocular irrigating solution produces better effects on vision recovery of cataract patients after surgery than Ringer lactate solution. Int Ophthalmol 44, 233 (2024). Accessed July 24, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-024-03131-8