The comparison of visual acuity and induced astigmatism after phacoemulsification and extracapsular cataract extraction

There are three methods for cataract extraction, extracapsular, intracapsular and phacoemulsification. The purpose of this study is determination of visual acuity and astigmatism before and after phaco and ECCE method and comparison of these two methods. In this cross-sectional study, the all of cataract surgery records investigated that were belong to one surgeon in 2006-2007. They were 100 phacoemulsification and 34 extra capsular cataract extraction. The data were analyzed in SPSS 14 using independent and paired t-test. The mean of visual acuity before and after phaco and ECCE showed a considerable difference (P< 0.001). The mean of astigmatism before and after phaco did not show any difference (P=0.7), But for ECCE did (P<0.001). The comparison of astigmatism and visual acuity after phaco and ECCE showed a considerable statistical difference (P< 0.001). The result of this study showed that recovery rate of visual acuity was faster in phaco than ECCE and induced astigmatism after surgery had been lower for phaco than ECCE technique.