One of the challenges in learning horizontal phaco chop is that there is only a small window of time, usually only a second or two, in which to complete the chop. The traditional teaching is to bury the phaco tip into the nucleus and then use the vacuum holding power to fixate the nucleus while the chopper is placed under the capsulorhexis and around the lens equator. If this is not done in an efficient manner the vacuum holding power will start to wane and grip will be lost thereby preventing completion of the chop. Our guest surgeon has a great suggestion: pre-place the chopper under the anterior capsular rim and then around the lens equator before embedding the phaco probe in the nucleus. This makes the chop easier to learn for a beginning surgeon.
