Control of astigmatism by wound placement.

We performed a clinical surgical study of extracapsular extraction/phacoemulsification and lens implantation to determine the effectiveness of posterior wound placement in reducing immediate astigmatism. One hundred three cases, one half with anterior wounds and one half with posterior wounds, were analyzed for cylinder, axis, and astigmatism at six days and six weeks. We found little change in the amount of preexistent astigmatism with posteriorly placed wounds. The change was much greater with anteriorly placed wounds.