Descemet membrane detachment in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery: a case report

Background: Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) has grown in popularity among ophthalmologists as a novel technique. However, descemet membrane detachment (DMD) began to be found as the complication after FLACS. We report a case of serious DMD following FLACS due to the inappropriate incision design. Case presentation: An 85-year-old man with apparent cornea arcus senilis underwent femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery in his right eye. A biplanar model was chosen for the main incision. A serious descemet membrane detachment (DMD) occurred at the end of phacoemulsification, which was connected with the main incision. However, the surgeon confused it with the transient swelling of corneal endothelium, and did not treated DMD timely. DMD was confirmed by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) at the postoperative 1-month follow-up. Eventually DMD was resolved by intracameral perfluropropane (C3F8) gas injection. Conclusions: This case suggests that a careful incision separation and a triplanar incision design in FLACS may reduce the incidence of DMD in cataract surgery.