Evaluación clínica de la correlación entre la energía disipada acumulada y el edema corneal postquirúrgico en pacientes operados de cataratas

Objective. The purpose of this research was to find the correlation between the value of accumulated dissipated energy during phacoemulsification and postoperative corneal edema in patients with senile cataract at 1, 7, 30 and 90 days. Methods. A single-center, unblinded, descriptive-analytic case series clinical study was performed with a single group of patients operated by phacoemulsification, with follow-up at 1, 7, 30 and 90 days. Forty-nine eyes of patients diagnosed with senile cataract were included. The variables of level of cumulative dissipated energy, duration of surgery, fluid used and aspiration time were studied. To evaluate the correlation, a statistical analysis was performed, calculating Pearson's (r) and Spearman's (Rho) correlation coefficients. Results. As the degree of corneal edema increased, an increase in the cumulative dissipated energy was observed (p: 0.004). Regarding the correlation with corneal edema, the cumulative energy dissipated presented significant Spearman and Pearson correlations (r) with the degree of Corneal Edema at days 1, 7, and 30, but did not correlate with the degree of corneal edema at day 90. Conclusions. There is an increase in post-surgical corneal edema during the first postoperative month, with a positive correlation with the levels of cumulative dissipated energy, however, we did not find a significant correlation at 90 days. Other variables (total case time, fluid used and total aspiration time) were not significantly correlated with the degree of corneal edema.