Dry Eye Changes after Phacoemulsification and Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS)

Purpose: Evaluation of tear film stability and tear secretion after phacoemulsification and manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS). Design: Prospective comparative randomized clinical study. Subject and methods: 40 Patients included in this study divided into, Group A: 20 eyes with phacoemulsification. Group B: 20 eyes with MSICS. All patients had full ophthalmic examination including Tear film break-up time (TF-BUT), schirmer test, corneal fluorescein staining and dry eye symptoms recorded pre- and post- operatively. All patients were done by the same surgeon randomly selected standard coaxial phacoemulsification or MSICS. Results: The mean age in group A 55.8 ± 15.8 while, 60.65 ± 9.2. Most of patients in group B were females (90%) versus 45% in group A with statistically significant difference (p-value < 0.05). Grade of dry eye symptoms (DES) has significantly increased 1 week after each procedure and remained increased after 4 weeks of surgery. After 3 months, the grade of DES has decreased again and returned to near baseline data. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups regarding TF-BUT, Cornea fluorescein staining, and Schirmer test. Conclusion: The present study has shown that MSICS is as effective as phacoemulsification with no difference between both techniques as regarding effect on tear film stability and tear secretion.