Surgically induced astigmatism after 3.0 mm temporal and nasal clear corneal incisions in bilateral cataract surgery.

Objective: To compare the corneal refractive changes induced after 3.0 mm temporal and nasal corneal incisions in bilateral cataract surgery.

Methods: This prospective study comprised a consecutive case series of 60 eyes from 30 patients with bilateral phacoemulsification that were implanted with a 6.0 mm foldable intraocular lens through a 3.0 mm horizontal clear corneal incision (temporal in the right eyes, nasal in the left eyes). The outcome measures were surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) and uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) 1 and 3 months, post-operatively.

Results: At 1 month, the mean SIA was 0.81 diopter (D) for the temporal incisions and 0.92 D for nasal incisions (P = 0.139). At 3 months, the mean SIA were 0.53 D for temporal incisions and 0.62 D for nasal incisions (P = 0.309). The UCVA was similar in the 2 incision groups before surgery, and at 1 and 3 months post-operatively.

Conclusions: After bilateral cataract surgery using 3.0 mm temporal and nasal horizontal corneal incisions, the induced corneal astigmatic change was similar in both incision groups. Especially in Asian eyes, both temporal and nasal incisions (3.0 mm or less) would be favorable for astigmatism-neutral cataract surgery.