how to recover from a ruptured posterior capsule during cataract surgery

It happens to all surgeons, and it is much more common in beginning surgeons: rupture of the posterior capsule during cataract surgery. The rate among resident surgeons in training is about 5% for the first few hundred surgeries. Very experienced surgeons have a rate of much less than 1%. But even still, it will rarely happen. The key is to recognize the issue, accept that a complication has happened, and then recover from the complication to provide a good visual outcome for our patient.

This video shows when the resident inadvertently touches the posterior capsule with the phaco tip, thereby causing a rupture. This is further expanded due to the uncontrolled fluidics and now there is vitreous prolapsed into the anterior segment. At this point the cortex still needs to be removed, the prolapsed vitreous cleaned up, and the IOL implanted. This is not an easy task. We will show you how to accomplish this safely and efficiently, step by step.