Elastic Silicone Bowl to Salvage Dislocated Lenses and Substitute for the Substitutive Posterior Lens Capsule During Phacoemulsification.

Elastic Silicone Bowl to Salvage Dislocated Lenses and Substitute for the Substitutive Posterior Lens Capsule During Phacoemulsification In patients with lens dislocation, the use of vitreous cutters is not sufficient to remove large lens fragments. Several techniques for the dislocated lens have been reported such as the fragmatome, the phaco without sleeve, the bimanual techniques, and/or the use of perfluorocarbon liquid (PFCL).1–8 In case of hard nucleus, the use of PFCL, heavier than water, is preferred. The dislocated lens will float upward after the injection of PFCL and can then be removed by phacoemulsification and aspiration (PEA).6–8 However, there are problems associated with the use of PFCL. As PFCL has surface tension, its surface is convex, which complicates keeping the lens fragments at the center of the operative field. Small nucleus fragments might also be dispersed in the peripheral vitreous body or hidden behind the iris. In addition to these issues, there is a risk of small particles of PFCL remaining in the eye after surgery. We speculated that using a soft net to salvage the entire dislocated lens and to support it during PEA as a substitute for the posterior capsule would solve the aforementioned problems. Here, we report the use of an elastic silicone bowl (ESB) dissected from a silicone phaco test chamber to salvage dislocated lenses in four eyes in three patients.