Comparison of postoperative astigmatism with incisions of varying length closed with horizontal sutures and with no sutures

Abstract

Four groups of cataract patients having phacoemulsification with a scleral tunnel incision were studied. Three groups had incision lengths of 5.0, 6.0, and 6.5 mm closed with a single horizontal suture. The fourth group of patients had 5.0 mm incisions without suture closure. We found no statistical difference between these groups in the vector astigmatic changes over a four week period and subsequently over a 6.9 +/- 3.7 week period. The patients in all groups returned to their preoperative astigmatic values within one to two weeks within the statistical significance achieved in this study.