The capsulorhexis is an important part of cataract surgery and one reason is that it allows access to the inside of the capsular bag for removal of the lens nucleus and cortex. If the capsulorhexis is too small then it can be difficult to access the nucleus for chopping as well as to bring nuclear pieces out of the bag for emulsification. A smaller capsulorhexis will make this potentially more challenging.
Click below to see how a slightly smaller capsulorhexis affects phaco chop:
I’ve noticed that sometimes you hold your phaco probe bevel up and sometimes bevel down. Could you comment on when you choose to do each?
a video for this topic will be posted here on December 8. In short, bevel down makes it easier to full occlude the tip so that the vacuum builds up quickly (using a peristaltic pump phaco machine) and that gives the holding power allowing the chop to be performed.