Comparison of surgically induced astigmatism between 2.8 mm and 3.2 mm superotemporal clear corneal incision in phacoemulsification

Purpose: To compare surgically induced astigmatism between 2.8 mm and 3.2 mm superotemporal clear corneal incision in phacoemulsification with foldable intraocular lens implantation. Material and methods: A prospective study of 100 eyes of 100 patients undergoing cataract surgery were randomly divided in two groups of 50 each Group1-underwent phacoemulsification through 2.8 mm clear corneal inscision. Group II- patients underwent phacoemulsification through 3.2 mm clear corneal incision. Postoperative assessment visual acuity and keratometry was done at Day 1, week 1, week 6 and 3rd month. Results: Surgically induced astigmatism at month 3 was found to be higher in group II(0.39D =/-0.16D) than in group I (0.32D ± 0.22D), but the difference was not found to be statistically significant (P=0.07). Conclusion: Reducing the size of superotemporal clear corneal incision incision from 3.2 mm to 2.8 mm in phacoemulsification does not significantly reduce amount of surgically induced astigmatism.