SUMMARY
Purpose:
To evaluate the clinical safety and effectiveness of the novel synthetic viscoelastic solution MEDILON (polyacrylamide).
Methods:
60 cataract patients were randomly divided into 3 groups of 20 patients. Upon extracapsular cataract extraction Group 1 received injected air in the anterior chamber for endothelium protection, Group 2 received HEALON ( sodium hyaluronate) and Group 3 received MEDILON (polyacrylamide). Preoperative and postoperative ( 1 day and 3 months) examinations were conducted as well as a comparative study between groups evaluating endothelial cell count, intraocular pressure variation, corneal thickness, incision type, postoperative complications and surgeons' subjective impressions.
Results:
Endothelial cell loss was similar in Group 2 (Healon) and Group 3 (Medilon), and higher in Group 1 (Air). Regarding all other clinical aspects there were no statistically significant differences between Groups 2 and 3. As to the surgeons subjective impressions there was a discreet preference for polyacrylamide over sodium hyaluronate.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that the clinical safety and effectiveness of polyacrylamide as a viscoelastic substance for intraocular use is comparable to sodium hyaluronate.
Keywords:
Endothelial protection; Polyacrilamide; Sodium hyaluronate; Viscoelastics