All cataract surgeons will experience a posterior capsule rupture many times during the course of a career. This complication is far more common for surgeons in training because only experience can teach the surgical skill and judgment to minimize this risk. But even for expert surgeons, a posterior capsule rupture can still happen even without any fault or error by the surgeon. I had a case of posterior capsule rupture due to patient anatomy which I featured here where the patient did great, with no vitreous prolapse and achieving 20/20 vision. While the rate of posterior capsule rupture can be as high as 6% for novice surgeons, it is less than 1% for highly experienced surgeons and it can be 0.1% for true experts. The key is knowing how to recognize this complication and then react appropriately to rescue the case. This resident seems to get stuck with attempts to inject viscoelastic before withdrawing the phaco probe. I suggest reviewing some critical videos in our Curriculum series, like this one:
Learning these techniques ahead of time is the key to being able to perform when complications arise. If you are in training, please review the entire Curriculum Series. Your future patients will benefit immensely.
