A RESEARCH TO ASSESS THE SUTURED AND NON-SUTURED PHACOEMULSIFICATION INCISION POSTOPERATIVE ASTIGMATISM OUTCOMES AMONG CATARACT PATIENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL

Objective: We aimed to compare patient’s postoperative astigmatism experiencing anterior limbal phacoemulsification incision whether sutured or non-sutured. Material and methods: Our RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) research completed at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore (March to August 2017) on a total of 200 patients selected through non-probable and consecutive sampling strategy. Results: In the course of this research from March 2017 to August 2017; we assessed two hundred patients who were in the mean age group of (57.66 ± 7.35) years. The total research was further distributed in two different groups namely Group – I and II. A total of 74 patients were found with astigmatism after six weeks of operation. Whereas, in the population of second group a total of 12 patients were found with astigmatism after six weeks of operation. Both groups possessed a highly significant P-Value of (0.000). Conclusion: The outcomes of our research showed that more common incidence is of surgically induced astigmatism in phacoemulsification with an application of wound closure suture. It also affects the significant visual outcomes which are discouraged in the present era. There is a need to improvise on the phacoemulsification surgical methods and there is also no need for wound closure suture. Keywords: Astigmatism, Phacoemulsification, Incision, Cataract, Sutured Wound and Non-Sutured Wound