Intraocular pressure variation during different surgical procedures in rabbit eyes.

Abstract Purpose To analyse intraocular and infusion line pressures during vitrectomy and cataract extraction (manual extracapsular extraction, phacofragmentation and phacoemulsification) in rabbit eyes. Methods Twenty‐two rabbits were submetted to vitrectomy (25 eyes) and cataract extraction (42 eyes) ‐ extracapsular approach (14 eyes), phacofragmentation (14 eyes) and phacoemulsification (14 eyes). Their intraocular pressures were recorded through an antertior chamber cannula connected to a computed polygraph. Infusion line pressure was monitored only during vitrectomy and phacofragmentation. Results Intraocular pressure spikes above 100 mmHg and sometimes almost reaching 200 mmHg were observed in this study. Phacoemulsification showed the greatest variation and phacofragmentation the smallest. The minimun pressures in all surgeries were around 0 mmHg. Infusion line pressure showed smaller variations than intraocular pressure. Conclusion During surgical procedures in rabbit eyes, such as vitrectomy, extracapsular cataract extraction, phacofragmentation and phacoemulsification, there is a great intraocular pressure variation. Intraocular pressure did not show a good relation to infusion line pressure.