ABSTRACT

The possibility of cataract removal using a laser system has been investigated in the last 15 years as an alternative to the present ultrasound phaco system introduced by Kelman in 1967.1 The first presentation of the idea of laser cataract removal was done by Jack Dodick at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s 1989 annual meeting2 and in 1991 he performed his first case using a pulsed 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser.3,4 The technique was presented as an alternative of the ultrasound phacoemulsification. As a matter of fact, even if the effectiveness of the ultrasound phacoemulsification with all degree of nuclear density is well known, this technique is not free of drawbacks, complications such as burns at the wound, the potential damages of the endothelial cells, of the iris, the mechanical trauma due to the turbulence of the fluids and the nuclear fragments specially of hard cataracts and the always present risk of posterior capsule breaks.5