Publication Exclusive: Horizontal phaco chop makes cataract surgery more efficient with less ultrasonic energy

More than 20 years ago, Dr. Kunihiro Nagahara described the technique of phaco chop, which transformed cataract surgery by making it more efficient. His idea was simple: Use mechanical energy to break the cataract nucleus into smaller pieces instead of using the standard divide-and-conquer technique. Phaco chop requires less ultrasonic energy to disassemble the nucleus, and that means less damage to the delicate corneal endothelial cells, which makes for less inflammation and a faster postoperative recovery.