After the tunnel has been dissected with crescent knife Entry is made into the anterior chamber at 10 O’ Clock position with MVR/V-Lance 20G blade Viscoelastic is injected to make the eyeball hypertensive

1. TECHNIQUES OF CAPSULOTOMY
Presenter- Shayri Pillai
Liberia Eye Centre
JFK Memorial Medical Centre
LV Prasad Eye Institute
LIBERIA
March 1st 2021

2. INTRODUCTION
 After the tunnel has been dissected with crescent knife
 Entry is made into the anterior chamber at 10 O’ Clock
position with MVR/V-Lance 20G blade
Viscoelastic is injected to make the eyeball hypertensive

3. Three types of capsular openings :
 Continuous circular capsulorhexis
 Envelope
 Can-op-rhexis

4. Capsulorhexis
 1984-Gimbel for the first time in North America
introduce continuous tear capsulotomy
 1986- Asian surgeon Shimuzu called it circular capsulotomy

5. Advantages of Capsulorhexis
Intraoperative
 Capsule can be stretched
 Limits the risk of tears or radial cracks
 Hydrodissection is safe
 Minimal intraoperative stress on the zonules and evenly
disturbed at equator

6.  Easier cortical aspiration
 IOL can be positioned safely & symmetrically in the bag
 IOL can be placed on the rhexis in cases of PC rupture

7. Postoperative
 Uniform distribution of forces within the capsular ba
 Prevents the IOL from displacements
 Reduce effects of mechanical pressure
 Produces an extensive contact area between the haptics
of the IOL and the anterior capsule - reduces the
possibility of decentering
 Ensures that there is no contact with the ciliary body
 Risk of iris contact, pigment dispersion, hyphaema, and i
nflammation is reduced

8. MECHANICS OF CAPSULORHEXIS
TEARING BY STRETCHING
 Sufficient force to overcome the maximum strength of
capsule-direction perpendicular to the desired direction
of the tear is applied
 Free flap is pulled towards the centre to prevent it from
moving out of control towards the equator

9.  Force required should be sufficient to overcome the
maximum resistance of the capsule
 This type of tearing once started- progress rapidly and can
easily go out of control
 Capsule can tear in an undesired direction with less force
than is needed to make it tear in the desired direction

10. TEARING BY SHEARING
 Effective angle of the applied force at the tearing
vertex is perpendicular to the plane
 Applied force is in the direction of the least
resistance -Perpendicular to its plane
 Minimal force is needed to tear it
 Lesser chance of extending to the equator than if
stretching is used

11. TECHNIQUE WITH CYSTOTOME AND VISCOELASTIC
 26G needle for making the cystotome
 First bent is at 90°close to the needle tip & the second
bent at an obtuse angle
Cystotome with sharp cutting tip- brought to rest at the
centre of the capsule and a small medial opening is made
.
.

12. .

13. To form a small capsular flap
 Cystome is then placed above the flap
 Flap is directed clock wise or anti-clock wise -at
least 6mm diameter of the rhexis
 Cystome is repositioned at least five to six times above
the flap, near the end of the previous sector
 Positioning the cystotome above the flap
 Final tear is from outside to inside

14. .

15. DIFFICULTIES DURING RHEXIS
Rhexis escape
TECHNIQUES OF RECOVERING AN ESCAPING RHEXIS
 After deepening the chamber-direct the flap towards the
centre of the pupil either with the cytotome or forceps
Cut the capsule at the escape point using a curved
microscissors to redirect the opening back to the initial route
 Start a new rhexis in another position-in a clockwise
direction - join up with the first rhexis at the escape point

16. PITFALLS & REMEDIES
 If the rhexis size is too small - can converted to
can-op-rhexis
 Difficult to remove the cortex at 12 O’clock position
beneath the rhexis -after insertion of the IOL in the
bag- radial cuts can be given at the desired direction
for manipulation of the cannula
 Capsular bag is grossly decentered-the IOL may
become decentered in the post operative period -
remove the excess capsule during the operation

17.  Lack of red pupillary reflex in intumescent cataract-
difficult to perceive the capsular flap-Rhexis can be
performed either with ACM on or after putting the
ACM off, clean viscoelastics can be introduced

18. COMPLICATIONS OF CAPSULORHEXIS
 Shrinkage of anterior capsular opening -results in
capsular contraction syndrome
Capsular bag distension
 Epithelial cell hyperproliferation on the posterior capsule

19. TECHNIQUES OF STAINING
 Staining under an air bubble
 Intracameral subcapsular injection
 Intracameral supracapsular injection

20. STAINING UNDER AN AIR BUBBLE
 Air is injected using side port entry
 0.1ml of dye is injected over the anterior capsular within
the air bubble
 After a few seconds, dye is washed & viscoelastic are
injected in the anterior chamber
.
.

21. INTRACAMERAL SUBCAPSULAR INJECTION
 After the aqueous is replaced with viscoelastics
 0.05 to 0.1 ml of the dye is injected beneath the anterior
capsule with a 30 G needle
 Slight leakage of dye from the subcapsular space is
observed
 After the stained viscoelastic is replaced by clear one
 Point of injection can be used for beginning the CCC

22. INTRACAMERAL SUPRACAPSULAR INJECTION
 No ill effects on the endothelium
 After making the sideport entry
 Dye is injected directly into the AC till whole of aqueous
is stained
 Dye is then washed after 5 to 10 seconds using
copious amounts of BSS or Ringer lactate
 Sufficient amount of capsular staining is obtained by
this method

23. ENVELOPE TECHNIQUE
 Envelope technique is preferred over canopener -where
CCC is difficult
 In case of morgagnian, intumescent black/brown or
hypermature cataract- envelope making is easy and
excellent technique

24.  Scratch mark is made at the junction of lower 2/3rd and
upper 1/3rd of capsule
 Tiny cuts are given medially and laterally saving 1 mm of
capsule on either side, cuts are joined by a horizontal line
 Useful for placement of IOL in the bag
 After placing the IOL in the bag - remnants of anterior
capsule are cut off by cystotome or Vanas scissors

25. CAN-OP RHEXIS
 In cases of hard or large nucleii -can-op rhexis opening
will give all the benefits of CCC
 Allow placement of IOL in bag
 While performing CCC if one loses control -part of it has
to be completed by can opener technique-
preferable to have some round margin of capsular
opening
.

26.  Circular ragged opening about 5-6mm diameter
 Followed by multiple series of irregular freely mobile
capsular tags - in Anterior capsule -using cystitome

27. Thank you!
Excellence Equity Efficiency
L V Prasad Eye Institute