Silicone oil content in ophthalmic viscosurgical devices

To examine the silicone oil content in 5 brands of ophthalmic viscoelastic devices (OVDs).Department of Ophthalmology, Central Hospital of Vasteras, Vasteras, Sweden.Phacoemulsification with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation was performed in 250 patients. Five brands of OVD were used, each one in 50 procedures. From each brand, 5 separate batches, each consisting of 10 syringes, were used. The 250 samples from identical batches were sent for spectrophotometric analysis, and 250 samples were used during surgery.The silicone oil content varied significantly between the OVD brands.Silicone oil is a common contaminant in many OVDs. Ophthalmic viscosurgical devices with relatively low silicone oil content are available.