Comparison of Post-surgical Astigmatism Induced by Phacoemulsification through 2.75mm Incision on Steep Axis versus Scleral Tunnel Incision

Purpose: To compare post-surgical astigmatism induced by phacoemulsification through 2.75mm clear corneal incision at steep axis versus superior scleral tunnel incision. Type of study: Quasi-experimental Sampling technique: Non-Randomized consecutive sampling. Materials and methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 180 eyes of 180 patients of cataract reporting at Eye Department, CMH, Lahore from Oct 2011 to July 2012 who had preexisting corneal astigmatism. They were randomly assigned to two groups: Group A, 2.75mm clear corneal incision at steep axis group, and Group B, the superior scleral tunnel incision group. SPSS 17 Results: Induced refractive change caused by corneal incision at steep axis showed an overall improvement in pre-operative astigmatism with minimum level of significance while post-surgical astigmatism induced by scleral tunnel incision was found out to be minimal with a good visual rehabilitation. Conclusion: Corneal incision at steep axis is an effective technique to reduce pre-operative astigmatism while scleral tunnel technique is suitable in cases where minimal change in pre-operative astigmatism is targeted.