To investigate the difference in corneal endothelial cell loss between diabetic and non-diabetic patients who were divided by the degree of phacoemulsification time after phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation.

Forty eyes of 30 patients with diabetes and 47 eyes of 36 patients without diabetes were divided by phacoemulsification time into 3 groups: less than 40 seconds, from 40 to 80 seconds and over 80 seconds. The corneal endothelial cell density was compared before and 1, 4 and 16 weeks after phacoemulsification by one-way ANOVA. Bivariate correlation analysis was used to identify the correlation between phacoemulsification time and the endothelial density before and 1, 4 and 16 weeks after phcoemulsification.

The endothelial cell densities in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with different phacoemulsification time were not significantly different when compared before and 1, 4 and 16 weeks after phacoemulsification (P>0.05). Phacoemulsificaiton time and endothelial cell loss at 1, 4 and 16 weeks also showed no significant correlation.

Diabetes and differences in phacoemulsification time had no significant influence on corneal endothelial cell loss. This result suggests uncomplicated phacoemulsificaion is a safe method for cataract extraction in patients with or without diabetes.