A Comparative Study of Surgically Induced Astigmatism in Superior and Temporal Scleral Incision in Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery

Aim: To evaluate the amount and type of surgically induced astigmatism in superior and temporal scleral incision in Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS). Material and Methods: A prospective randomized comparative study was carried out in 100 cases of senile or pre-senile cataract. All the patients underwent MSICS under peribulbar anaesthesia. The patients with very hard cataract were excluded so as to keep the incision size uniformity (6-6.5mm). 50 cases received superior scleral incision and 50 cases received temporal scleral incision. Post operative astigmatism was studied in both groups using Bausch & Lomb Keratometer on 1st day, 7th day, 6th week and 3rd month. Results: After 3 months of surgery, out of 50 patients in superior scleral incision group 74% patients had ATR astigmatism and 16% patients had WTR astigmatism whereas in temporal scleral incision group 56 % of the patients had WTR astigmatism and 36 % had ATR astigmatism. The mean surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) in temporal incision group was significantly less than the superior incision group after 3 months postoperatively (t=2.33, p<0.05). Conclusion: This study reveals that temporal approach MSICS produces less postoperative astigmatism and has manifold advantages over superior incision MSICS with excellent visual outcome. [Natl J of Med Res 2012; 2(4.000): 497-500]