SPOTLIGHT ON TECHNOLOGY & TECHNIQUE

Healon OVD Duet streamlines surgery

Dispersive, cohesive combination improves visibility during cataract operations.

By Bill Kekevian, Senior Associate Editor

In a recent challenging case, D. Michael Colvard, MD, had to do what any good surgeon would: improvise. He was performing cataract surgery on a patient with corneal scarring due to trachoma. The Healon OVD Duet Pack played a role in this improvisation.

“I placed the Healon EndoCoat initially, followed by a small amount of BSS under the Healon OVD. This provided some space into which I injected Trypan blue to stain the capsule,” he says, attributing the technique to Robert H. Osher, MD, of Cincinnati Eye Institute. “I washed out the excess Trypan blue and injected some additional dispersive OVD. The combination of the clear dispersive OVD and the blue stain allowed me to visualize the capsule very well, even though there was severe corneal scarring.” He then used the Healon set again for the IOL insertion.

PACKAGE

The Healon OVD Duet Dual Pack isn’t just for complicated cataract surgeries.

The set packages two viscoelastic products, each with different physiochemical properties intended to perform specific tasks. Included (in separate, sterile trays) are the cohesive Healon OVD and the dispersive EndoCoat OVD. These products are designed to maintain a deep chamber, enhance visibility and protect the endothelium during cataract extraction and IOL implementation.

Combining these products is convenient and cost-effective for surgery centers, Dr. Colvard adds.

ENDOCOAT OVD

The EndoCoat OVD is an ophthalmic viscoelastic surgical aid formulated with 3% sodium hyaluronate. This short-chained, low molecular weight dispersive provides superior protection for the corneal endothelium during phacoemulsification, according to Dr. Colvard. “Dispersives are particularly useful when there is endothelial compromise, when the nucleus is very dense and when the surgeon prefers intraoperative chopping techniques that tend to bring nuclear material into the anterior chamber during phacoemulsification,” he says.

Previously, sodium hyaluronate dispersive agents, while effective, were somewhat turbid and tended to reduce a surgeon’s visibility, he says. “Surgeons have noted this for years, but accepted it because of the benefits of endothelial protection,” he says. “EndoCoat, in my experience, seems to have the level of clarity that we associate with cohesive products,” he says.

IMPROVED SAFETY

As for Dr. Colvard’s trachoma case, he says he was “grateful to have access to both the OVDs I wanted, with the clarity that was needed to perform the case safely,” he says. “I have found subsequently that in more routine cases where the nucleus is very dense, improved visualization with the EndoCoat often makes the use of Trypan blue unnecessary.” OM