[1-year follow-up of astigmatism after cataract operation. Wound closure with cross-stitch suture vs. no-stitch suture technique].

Like the type of wound opening, wound closure has an important influence on postoperative astigmatism. In a series of 300 patients, for 1 year we examined postoperative astigmatism after cataract surgery with sutured scleral wound closure and the no-stitch technique. In the early postoperative period, the no-stitch technique. (1.00 dpt +/- 0.83) had less induced astigmatism (vector analysis of Jaffé), compared with sutured scleral wound closure (1.77 dpt +/- 1.36), as well as a smaller standard deviation. Furthermore, with the no-stitch technique a nearly stable situation is reached within the first 4 weeks. In the late postoperative period, the astigmatism induced after sutured scleral wound closure (1.01 dpt +/- 0.57) is only a little greater than with the no-stitch technique (0.85 dpt +/- 0.65). On both techniques more than every second patient shows astigmatism (sutured scleral wound closure: 61%; no-stitch technique: 52%).