ABSTRACT
To compare clear corneal incision and scleral tunnel incision in terms of intraocular pressure [IOP], post-operative inflammation, induced astigmatism, and corneal edema in phacoemulcification. This non-controlled clinical trial was conducted on 78 eyes with senile cataract. A clear corneal incision was made in 40 eyes and a scleral tunnel incision was made in 38 eyes. All eyes underwent standard phacoemulsification. Post-operative inflammation and corneal edema was measured 1, 7, and 60 days post-operatively. IOP was also measured preoperatively and 1, 7, and 60 days post-operatively. Corneal astigmatism was measured before and 7 and 60 days after surgery. Results: Post-operative inflammation was greatest on the first post-operative day in both groups, but there was no significant difference between them. In both groups, IOP was highest on the first postoperative day with no significant differences at any times of follow up. Mean decrease of IOP at 2 month comparing to preoperative value was 1.4 mmHg in the scleral tunnel group and 1.1 mmHg in the clear corneal group. Mean astigmatism preoperatively and on post-operative days 7 and 60 was 1.052 +/- 0.805, 0.993 +/- 0.653, and 0.730 +/- 0.527 diopter, and 0.893 +/- 0.850, 1.137 +/- 1.011, and 0.975 +/- 1.012 diopter in the scleral tunnel and clear cornea groups, respectively. Astigmatism on days 7 and 60 were grater in clear cornea incision. Against the rule induced astigmatism was more frequent in the clear corneal group. [p<0.04] In both groups, corneal edema was highest on the first post-operative day with no significant differences between the two groups. Scleral tunnel incision is better than clear corneal incision for minimizing post-operative corneal astigmatism in small incision cataract surgery