Study of endothelial cell loss in small incision cataract surgery (SICS)

Purpose: To evaluate the density of the central corneal endothelial cell before and after a small incision cataract surgery with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation and also determine the association between endothelial cell loss and post-operative visual acuity. Methods: A total of 205 eyes of 205 patients undergoing SICS were included in surgery. Patients underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation and endothelial cell density was measured with TOPCON SP1P specular microscope preoperatively and postoperatively day 7 and at 1 month. Results: The majority of the patients were in the age group 61-70 years. The mean endothelial cell count pre operatively was 2689.65 cells/mm2, post operatively on 7th day 2433.27 cells/mm2 and at 1 month was 2367.01 cells/ mm2. At 1 month postoperative mean visual acuity between 20/30-20/70. Conclusion: There is 11.21% endothelial cell count after SICS, which is comparable with other modes of cataract surgery like extracapsular cataract extraction and phacoemulsification