The chopper can do so much more than chop. It can be used to fixate the eye via the paracentesis, open the phaco incision to facilitate insertion of instruments, lift the iris to look for retained lens material, dial the IOL into the capsular bag, and more. In this case, we use the chopper to hold one hemi-nucleus to the side to allow greater room for the phaco probe to bring the other hemi-nucleus out of the capsular bag and into the iris plane. This is an important maneuver because it creates more space so that the capsulorhexis (which is appropriately sized) does not limit extraction of nuclear pieces.
Click below to watch this technique of hemi-nucleus management with the chopper:
All content is © 2018 by Uday Devgan MD. All rights reserved.
