Comparison of post operative astigmatism from superiotemporal vs temporal incision in small incision cataract surgery

Introduction: Cataract surgery has become one of the most common and successful procedures in ophthalmology. In addition to improving visual acuity (VA), one of the goals of modern cataract surgery is to reduce pre-existing astigmatism (PEA), a factor that may reduce VA and affect the quality of vision. Materials and Methods: It was a prospective, interventional study conducted at a tertiary care center. The study population consisted of 142 cataract patients admitted in hospital and underwent manual small incision cataract surgery. Patients were randomized and divided into two groups(group A –superiotemporal, Group B –temporal) Patients were examined on post-operative Day 1, 1week, 40days Uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity was recorded. Slit-lamp examination, auto refractometer and keratometry examination were done. Results: The mean SIA in Group1 was found to be 0.532±0.317 and in Group 2 it was 0.435±0.338. The p value accordingly was less than 0.05, which is statistically non significant. T-test was applied to compare the two groups. Conclusion: SICS with the temporal approach provides a better stabilization of the refraction with a significantly less SIA than superior approach.