Comparison of Central Macular Thickness after SICS (Small Incision Cataract Surgery) and Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery using OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography)

Purpose: To Compare the central macular thickness after SICS and Phacoemulsification cataract surgery using OCT. Methods: It was a study to compare the Central Macular thickness after SICS and Phacoemulsification cataract surgeries performed at Sankara Eye Hospital, Ludhiana. Those who opted for polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) lenses underwent SICS. Those who opted for foldable lenses (acrylic hydrophilic) underwent phacoemulsification. Macular thickness was measured post-operatively on days 1, 7 and 45 using TOPCON OCT, with the Macular Cube function. Patients of age group 50-70 were included with Nuclear sclerosis grade II-III cataract with no posterior segment pathology. Results: 30 eyes of 24 patients underwent SICS and 30 eyes of 25 patients underwent Phacoemulsification. Patients who underwent SICS showed average Macular thickness of 198.32 um on Day 1, 203.32 on Day 7 and 212.22 on Day 45. Patients who underwent Phacoemulsification showed average Macular thickness of 193.73 on Day1, 197.66 on Day 7 and 202.27 on Day 45. Conclusion: Presence of subclinical increase in the central macular thickness following cataract surgery was more following SICS than phacoemulsification and Maximum at post-op day 45.