Postoperative corneal shape changes: microincision versus small-incision coaxial cataract surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Corneal Surgery
• Astigmatism Management

Background:

• Cataract surgery techniques aim to minimize visual disturbances.
• Incisions in cataract surgery can induce astigmatism and alter corneal topography.
• Microincision cataract surgery (MICS) and small-incision cataract surgery (SICS) utilize different incision sizes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare corneal topography changes and astigmatism after coaxial MICS versus coaxial SICS.
• To evaluate induced regular and irregular astigmatism following MICS and SICS.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 120 eyes of 60 patients undergoing phacoemulsification.
• Sixty eyes underwent MICS (2.00 mm) and 60 contralateral eyes underwent SICS (2.65 mm).
• Corneal topography and astigmatism were assessed using videokeratography and vector analysis at multiple postoperative intervals.

Main Results:

• MICS group showed significantly less induced corneal astigmatism than SICS group from 1 week postoperatively.
• Videokeratography revealed less focal corneal flattening and steepening in the MICS group.
• Higher-order irregular astigmatism was significantly lower in the MICS group up to 2 weeks postoperatively.

Conclusions:

• Coaxial MICS leads to significantly less induced astigmatism compared to coaxial SICS.
• MICS results in reduced focal wound-related peripheral corneal flattening and corneal surface irregularity.
• These findings suggest MICS offers advantages in minimizing postoperative visual aberrations.