A corneal stab incision is made through peripheral cornea at the 3 o'clock meridian into the anterior chamber with a 15 degree razor blade. The anterior chamber is filled with Vitrax. Following this, an anterior capsulorrhexis, 5.5-mm in diameter, is performed using Stolte forceps and cystotome. The nucleus is hydrodelineated from cortex by injection of balanced salt solution and the nucleus is phacoemulsified by dividing it into quadrants and phacoemulsifying each quadrant separately in the posterior chamber. Cortex is aspirated and irrigated and removed.
Posterior capsule is entirely intact.
The capsular bag is inflated with Vitrax. The incision is now enlarged from 2.8 to 5.5-mm. The intraocular lens is examined, irrigated and slid through the incision, and haptics are placed in the capsular bag. The lens is rotated slightly so that the haptics end up in the 9 and 3 o'clock meridian. The lens centers well.