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Transconjunctival corneoscleral tunnel "blue line" cataract incision
1Department of Surgery, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, USA.
Purpose:
To report the technique and astigmatic results of the blue line cataract incision.
Setting:
The Buzzard Eye Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Methods:
This prospective study included 411 eyes of 271 patients who had cataract extraction by phacoemulsification with a self-sealing 3.0 mm blue line cataract incision. The blue line incision is performed with a diamond knife transconjunctively, 2.0 mm behind the surgical limbus.
Results:
Mean patient age was 68 years (range 40 to 94 years) and mean preoperative astigmatism, 0.96 diopter (D) +/- 0.78 (SD). Uncorrected visual acuity at 1 day was 20/40 or better in 47% of patients. Mean spherical equivalent was -0.57 +/- 0.78 D at 6 months. Mean postoperative astigmatism measured with a subtraction method was 1.00 +/- 0.84 D at 6 months. Vector analysis showed an induced astigmatism of -0.47 +/- 1.00 D at 1 month, -0.58 +/- 0.81 D at 3 months, and -0.57 +/- 0.99 D at 6 months. No complications such as wound leakage or hyphema occurred.
Conclusion:
The blue line incision combines the efficiency of the clear corneal with the safety of the scleral tunnel cataract incision and appears to be relatively astigmatically neutral.
