The frequency of acceptable astigmatism after suture less phacoemulsification with 5.5mm posterior chamber intraocular lens in age related cataracts

Purpose: To determine the frequency of acceptable astigmatism after suture less phacoemulsification with 5.5mm posterior chamber intraocular lens in age related cataracts.  Methods: 90 patients fulfilling selection criteria were included in the study. Preoperative visual acuity and keratometry readings were noted. After phacoemulsification, visual acuity and keratometry readings were noted on 1 st postoperative day, 1 week postoperatively and 8 th week postoperatively to determine surgical induced astigmatism.  Results: The mean age was 60.11±10.53. Male were 49 (54.4%) and female 41 (45.6%) with male to female ratio 1.19:1. The mean preoperative cylinder was 0.37±0.166, mean postoperative cylinder at first day was 1.30±0.62, mean postoperative cylinder at 1 week was 1.2±0.57, and the mean postoperative cylinder at 8 th week was +1.16±0.57. Comparison of mean preoperative cylinder and 8 weeks postoperative cylinder is statistically not significant with p value <0.05. Surgically induced astigmatism was found to be 0.78 diopter. 69 patients (76.7%) had acceptable astigmatism, 17 patients (18.9%) had moderate astigmatism while 4 patients (4.4%) had worse astigmatism.  Conclusion: Phacoemulsification with 5.5mm PMMA IOL is an effective procedure in terms of postoperative astigmatism.  Key Words: Phacoemulsification, PMMA lens, keratometry