The effect of phacoemulsification and opposite clear corneal incision (occi) modification to changes of corneal astigmatism in cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism

Background This study aimed to evaluate differences in the value of corneal astigmatism pre- And post-surgery and investigate the association between pre-existing corneal astigmatism and surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) with a combination of post-phacoemulsification and OCCI modification. Methods The pre-post study was conducted on cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism who have been through the combination of phacoemulsification and OCCI modification with the following criteria: The cataract Buratto score ≤ III, age ≥ 40, pre-existing astigmatism ≥ 1.25-4.00 D, steep meridian 45-135o, patients refused to be treated with toric IOL, no previous ocular surgery, glaucoma, uveitis, pterygium, corneal dystrophies, scars, and keratoconus. Results There were significant differences between pre- And post-surgery corneal astigmatism (p = 0.000) from a total of 13 analyzed samples. The average value of pre-existing corneal astigmatism was slightly higher, with 1.41 ± 0.24 D than the corneal astigmatism post-surgery with an average value of 0.75 ± 0.35 D. The Spearman correlation test revealed a negative correlation between pre-existing corneal astigmatism and SIA (r = -0.302; p = 0.315). Conclusion There were significant differences between pre- And post-corneal astigmatism surgery, and the value of SIA has no association with the amount of pre-existing corneal astigmatism.