Two year follow-up of astigmatism after phacoemulsification with adjusted and unadjusted sutured versus sutureless 5.2 mm superior scleral incisions.

PURPOSE

To evaluate changes in astigmatism 6 months to 2 years after 5.2 mm superior scleral incision phacoemulsification using 3 closures.

SETTING

Department of Ophthalmology, Vejle Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.

METHODS

This long-term follow-up study included 75 consecutive phacoemulsification patients who were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 incision closures: 1 intraoperatively adjusted cross suture, 1 unadjusted cross suture, no suture. Postoperative astigmatism after 1 and 2 years was evaluated by keratometric cylinder, induced astigmatism (Naeser's polar values), induced cylinder (Jaffe's vector analysis), and vector decomposition (Olsen). The data were compared with 1 week values.

RESULTS

In the previous study, median astigmatism after 6 months was similar in all 3 groups, but only the sutureless group showed early stability. Significant against-the-rule (ATR) changes were seen in the sutured cases (P < .01). The 1 and 2 year follow-up showed continued stability in the sutureless cases. The adjusted-suture group exhibited stability after 6 months, while the unadjusted-suture group showed a further tendency to change ATR. At 2 years, median ranges of astigmatism were -0.49 to -0.90 diopter (D) (Naeser), 0.77 to 1.02 D (Jaffe), and 96% to 98% ATR (Olsen). The intergroup differences were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Two year follow-up confirmed that sutureless closure led to early astigmatism stability. Using a suture prolonged the postoperative period of astigmatism instability, and if used without intraoperative adjustment, a tendency toward a less predictable outcome persisted after 2 years.