Central corneal epithelial thickness changes after half-moon supracapsular nucleofractis phacoemulsification technique

Purpose To find out the effect of half-moon supracapsular nucleofractis technique on central corneal epithelial thickness (CET) measured by spectral domain anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). Materials and methods Patients who underwent uneventful cataract surgery by the same surgeon with the same technique were recruited in this study. The effective phaco time (EPT) was recorded in each surgery. Central CET was measured by AS-OCT 1 day before and 1, 3, 7 days after surgery. CET was measured without precorneal tear film layer, and non-epithelial central corneal thickness was also calculated manually. Preoperative and postoperative values were compared by statistical analysis. Results Thirty-one eyes of 31 patients were included in this study. The mean age of patients was 65.03 ± 11.47 years. On the first day of surgery, increase in mean CET was statistically significant, but on the 3rd and 7th day after surgery, this increase was declined ( p = 0.001, p = 0.367, p = 1, respectively). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between mean EPT and mean CET on the first postoperative day ( p = 0.013, r = 0.470). On the 3rd and 7th day, this correlation was not statistically significant ( p = 0.055, p = 0.454, respectively). Conclusion Mean central CET was statistically thicker and positive correlated with EPT on the first postoperative day. But on the 7th day, it declined to preoperative values.