Astigmatism in Straight and Frown Incision in Small Incision Cataract Surgery: A Comparative Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Blindness due to cataract presents an enormous problem especially in developing countries like India, not only in terms of human morbidity but also in terms of economic loss and social burden. The cataract surgeon of today is challenged to control the sphere as well as the cylinder of the refraction after surgery. Small incision cataract surgery (SICS) is now the method of choice in many parts of the world. This present study has been carried out with the aim to compare the postoperative corneal astigmatism between the two groups of patients undergoing SICS with posterior chamber intraocular lens (PCIOL) implantation with two difference types of incisions, i.e., frown and straight. Material and methods A prospective study was carried out in 60 patients enrolled from the Department of Ophthalmology of Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences who underwent SICS with superiorly placed straight and frown incision with PCIOL (each group consisting of 30 patients) during the period from May 2005 to October 2006. Results In this study, 60 patients having senile cataract in the age group of 50 to 75 years were studied. Out of these, the majority were in the age group of 60 to 64 (28.33%) years and only 26.66% were more than 70 years. The male:female ratio was 1:1. In our study, we found that frown incision had significantly better (p < 0.001) mean net astigmatism as compared with the straight incision. Conclusion We conclude that small incision size and absence of suture are the most important factors that contribute to less astigmatism and faster stabilization of SICS, where phacoemulsification cannot be performed. The duration for stabilization of postoperative astigmatism in straight incision group is 6 weeks, whereas it is 3 weeks in frown incision. Frown superior incision has got added advantage of early wound stabilization than straight incision, allowing the patient to resume their daily activities at an early stage. Superior incision group (both frown and straight) had increased amount of with-the-rule (WTR) astigmatism which later shifted to against-the-rule. There was a significant difference in net astigmatism between frown and straight. Postoperative astigmatism also depends on preoperative astigmatism. Patients with preoperative WTR benefited from superior incision cataract surgery. How to cite this article Tripathi S, Srinivasan M, Gupta S. Astigmatism in Straight and Frown Incision in Small Incision Cataract Surgery: A Comparative Study. Int J Adv Integ Med Sci 2017;2(3):111-116.