Safety of air tamponade versus corneal hydration for sealing clear corneal incisions in cataract surgery

Purpose To compare safety of wound hydration to anterior chamber air tamponade for securing watertight closure of clear corneal incisions, during uneventful cataract surgery. Methods Prospective, comparative case-control series. Patients undergoing phacoemulsification were assigned to receive either anterior chamber air bubble (Group A) or intrastromal wound hydration with balanced salt solution (Group B) at the end of the procedure. Two high-volume surgeons operated equal number of cases in each group employing identical surgical technique, except for corneal side incision management. Patients were assessed pre- and postoperatively at day 1, day 4, day 9, and day 30 after surgery. Results One hundred eyes of 100 patients were enrolled, of which 2 were lost to follow-up. The two groups were comparable in terms of preoperative risk factor assessment, baseline central corneal thickness (CCT), preoperative endothelial cell density, as well as cumulative dissipated energy and duration of phacoemulsification ( p > 0.05). Mean CCT and best-corrected visual acuity were better in Group B on the first postoperative day, but did not differ between the two groups at all other timepoints. Surgically induced astigmatism was comparable in the two groups ( p > 0.05). Endothelial cell density loss at 1 month postoperatively was greater in Group A (34.06%) compared to Group B (16.45%). Conclusions Wound sealing with intrastromal hydration proved to be safer than air tamponade in terms of preserving endothelial cell density and function.