To compare the corneal wetting properties of balanced salt solution (BSS) and ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) during cataract surgery.

The patients with senile cataract were randomly assigned to receive either BSS or viscous dispersive OVD for maintaining optical clarity during phacoemulsification. Intraoperative factors (VAS pain score, occurrence of corneal punctate epithelial erosions (PEE)) and postoperative factors (visual acuity, Oxford staining score, changes in endothelial cell counts, corneal thickness and volume) were compared.

Twenty-two eyes were assigned to the BSS group and; 33 eyes were assigned to the OVD group. There were no significant differences in demographic variable between the 2 groups. Intraoperative PEE was observed in 6 eyes in the BSS group and in 2 eyes in the OVD group. The incidence of PEE in the OVD group was significantly lower than in the BSS group ( p = 0.045). There were no significant differences in other parameters (VAS pain score, postoperative factors).

Corneal wetting with OVD (Discovisc®) provides better surgical view and reduces mechanical damage to the corneal surface without additional material or cost than BSS.