Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar;28(2):141-149.
doi: 10.1111/vop.13090. Epub 2023 Apr 7.

Prevalence and outcome of lens capsule disruption in routine canine cataract surgery: A retrospective study of 520 eyes (2012-2019)

Amy L M M Andrews  1 , Christiane Kafarnik  1 , Maria-Christine Fischer  1
Affiliations

Prevalence and outcome of lens capsule disruption in routine canine cataract surgery: A retrospective study of 520 eyes (2012-2019)

Amy L M M Andrews et al. Vet Ophthalmol. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and surgical outcome of lens capsule disruption (LCD) in dogs undergoing cataract removal.

Animals studied: Medical records of 924 eyes undergoing phacoemulsification were analyzed retrospectively.

Procedures: Routine cataract surgeries with or without LCD were included. Any LCD other than routine anterior capsulorhexis was defined as LCD and classified according to location and etiology. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated for maintaining vision, implantation of an artificial intraocular lens (IOL), and enucleation.

Results: In total, 520 eyes were included. A LCD occurred in 145 eyes (27.8%; 145/520) and affected the posterior (85.5%; 124/145), anterior (6.2%; 9/145), and equatorial lens capsule (4.8%; 7/145) and at multiple locations (3.4%; 5/145). The etiology of the LCD was spontaneous preoperative in 41 eyes (28.3%; 41/145), accidental intraoperative in 57 eyes (39.3%; 57/145), and planned in 47 eyes (32.4%; 47/145). Disruption did not increase the odds of enucleation (OR = 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56-3.67; p = .36). The presence of LCD significantly increased the risk of losing vision 1 year post-operatively (OR = 8.17, 95% CI 1.41-84.93; p = .007) associated with retinal detachment. However, this was not present at 2 years follow-up or in PCCC cases at any time point. An IOL was implanted in 108 eyes (108/145; 75.2%) with LCD and in 45/47 (95.7%) eyes with a PCCC.

Conclusion: Increased surgeon awareness of possible intraoperative, accidental LCDs is important, as LCDs were relatively common and associated with increased odds for vision loss after 1 year in the present study. A prospective study investigating the causes of intraoperative, accidental LCD is warranted.

Keywords: capsulorhexis; cataract surgery; dog; intraocular lens; lens capsule rupture; phacoemulsification.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Photograph of the left eye of a dog (8 years 2‐month‐old, female neutered, Cockapoo) over 6 years following phacoemulsification, planned posterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis and implantation of a 12 mm artificial intracapsular lens implant.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Cumulative percentage of eyes from all time points following phacoemulsification with intraoperative or postoperative complications. No significant difference in complications was identified between the routine group without LCD (n = 375) and the group with lens capsule disruption (LCD) (n = 145, p = .2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Miller Michau T. Surgery of the lens. Gelatt Veterinary Ophthalmology. Vol 2. 6th ed. Wiley; 2021:1371‐1458.
    1. Wilkie DA, Gemensky‐Metzler AJ, Colitz CMH, et al. Canine cataracts, diabetes mellitus and spontaneous lens capsule rupture: a retrospective study of 18 dogs. Vet Ophthalmol. 2006;9(5):328‐334. doi:10.1111/j.1463-5224.2006.00490.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Johnstone N, Ward DA. The incidence of posterior capsule disruption during phacoemulsification and associated postoperative complication rates in dogs: 244 eyes (1995–2002). Vet Ophthalmol. 2005;8(1):47‐50. doi:10.1111/j.1463-5224.2005.00344.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chakrabarti A, Nazm N. Posterior capsular rent: prevention and management. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2017;65(12):1359‐1369. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1057_17 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Davidson MG, Murphy CJ, Nasisse MP, et al. Refractive state of aphakic and pseudophakic eyes of dogs. Am J Vet Res. 1993;54(1):174‐177. - PubMed