PURPOSE To compare safety of wound hydration to anterior chamber air tamponade for securing watertight closure of clear corneal incisions, during uneventful cataract surgery. METHODS Prospective, comparative case-control series. Patients undergoing phacoemulsification were assigned to receive either anterior chamber air bubble (Group A) or intrastromal wound hydration with balanced salt solution (Group B) at the end of the procedure. Two high-volume surgeons operated equal number of cases in each group employing identical surgical technique, except for corneal side incision management. Patients were assessed pre- and postoperatively at day 1, day 4, day 9, and day 30 after surgery. RESULTS One hundred eyes of 100 patients were enrolled, of which 2 were lost to follow-up. The two groups were comparable in terms of preoperative risk factor assessment, baseline central corneal thickness (CCT), preoperative endothelial cell density, as well as cumulative dissipated energy and duration of phacoemulsification (p > 0.05). Mean CCT and best-corrected visual acuity were better in Group B on the first postoperative day, but did not differ between the two groups at all other timepoints. Surgically induced astigmatism was comparable in the two groups (p > 0.05). Endothelial cell density loss at 1 month postoperatively was greater in Group A (34.06%) compared to Group B (16.45%). CONCLUSIONS Wound sealing with intrastromal hydration proved to be safer than air tamponade in terms of preserving endothelial cell density and function.

中文翻译：

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在白内障手术中，空气填塞与角膜水合对密封透明角膜切口的安全性。

目的比较无创性白内障手术中伤口水化与前房空气填塞的安全性，以确保透明角膜切口的水密闭合。方法前瞻性比较病例对照系列。在手术结束时，接受超声乳化术的患者被分配接受前房气泡（A组）或基质内伤口水合平衡盐溶液（B组）。除角膜侧切口管理外，两名大手术量的患者均采用相同的手术技术，每组手术病例数相同。在手术后的第1天，第4天，第9天和第30天对患者进行术前和术后评估。结果纳入了100例患者的100眼，其中2例失访。两组在术前危险因素评估，基线中央角膜厚度（CCT），术前内皮细胞密度，累积耗散能量和超声乳化持续时间方面具有可比性（p> 0.05）。B组术后第一天的平均CCT和最佳矫正视力更好，但在所有其他时间点两组之间没有差异。两组手术引起的散光相当（p> 0.05）。与B组（16.45％）相比，A组术后1个月内皮细胞密度损失更大（34.06％）。结论在保持内皮细胞密度和功能方面，经基质水合的伤口密封术比空气填塞剂更安全。以及超声乳化的累积耗散能量和持续时间（p> 0.05）。B组术后第一天的平均CCT和最佳矫正视力更好，但在所有其他时间点两组之间没有差异。两组手术引起的散光相当（p> 0.05）。与B组（16.45％）相比，A组术后1个月内皮细胞密度损失更大（34.06％）。结论在保持内皮细胞密度和功能方面，经基质水合的伤口密封术比空气填塞剂更安全。以及超声乳化的累积耗散能量和持续时间（p> 0.05）。B组术后第一天的平均CCT和最佳矫正视力更好，但在所有其他时间点两组之间没有差异。两组手术引起的散光相当（p> 0.05）。与B组（16.45％）相比，A组术后1个月内皮细胞密度损失更大（34.06％）。结论在保持内皮细胞密度和功能方面，经基质水合的伤口密封术比空气填塞剂更安全。两组手术引起的散光相当（p> 0.05）。与B组（16.45％）相比，A组术后1个月内皮细胞密度损失更大（34.06％）。结论在保持内皮细胞密度和功能方面，经基质水合的伤口密封术比空气填塞剂更安全。两组手术引起的散光相当（p> 0.05）。与B组（16.45％）相比，A组（14.0％）术后1个月的内皮细胞密度损失更大。结论在保持内皮细胞密度和功能方面，经基质水合的伤口密封术比空气填塞剂更安全。