Clear corneal incision positions in phacoemulsification and the effects on postoperative astigmatism

Objective To compare different clear corneal incision positions in phacoemulsification and the effects on postoperative astigmatism. Methods Sixty eyes of 60 patients were selected to undergo phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. Patients were randomly divided into a control group (incision on the steepest corneal meridian) and a test group (incision on the superior position). Results One week, 1 month and 3 months after the operation, vision corrected with spherical lenses was not significantly different when the two groups were compared (P﹥0.05). One week after the operation, corneal astigmatism in the control group was significantly higher than in the test group (P﹤0.05). Corneal astigmatism in the control group one month postoperatively was significantly higher than at 3 months (P﹤0.05). There was no significant difference in the test group at 1 month and 3 months (P﹥0.05). Conclusion A clear corneal incision on the steepest corneal meridian is a useful way to achieve better visual quality and postoperative corneal astigmatism can be reduced significantly.