Rajkumari Bigyabati1, Rajkumar Victor2, Bishwalata Rajkumari3
BACKGROUND
Cataract is the principal cause of avoidable blindness in India and throughout the world. Surgical removal of the cataractous lens remains the only effective treatment for management of cataract blindness. The success of cataract surgery is determined by best and earliest visual recovery. But the occurrence of postoperative astigmatism has become a major hurdle in achieving this goal.
AIMS
The study was designed to compare the amount of astigmatism following conventional extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and manual small incision cataract surgery (SICS).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out in 100 eyes of 75 patients aged between 50 and 80 years admitted for cataract surgery. Out of these, 50 eyes were operated by conventional extracapsular cataract extraction and 50 eyes by manual small incision cataract surgery. The patients were followed up at 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th weeks. At each follow-up visual acuity, refraction and acceptance and keratometry were recorded and the findings analysed for astigmatism.
RESULTS
In the current study, the mean (SD) astigmatism developed at the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th of follow-up was significantly lower in the SICS group as compared to the ECCE group (P<0.000). At the end of 8 weeks of follow-up, the mean (SD) astigmatism of the SICS group was 0.64±0.56 D as compared to the mean (SD) of the ECCE group of 1.39±86 D and the difference was found to be significant (p<0.014).
CONCLUSION
The current study concludes that manual small incision cataract surgery is a better technique to control postoperative astigmatism than conventional extracapsular cataract extraction.
