AIM: To compare the clinical effects of 2.2mm coaxial micro-incision and 3.0mm standard incision in cataract phacoemulsification surgery.

METHODS: A total of 67 patients(80 eyes)were randomly divided into two groups. Cataract phacoemulsification and artificial lens implantation surgery was carried out with 2.2mm coaxial micro-incision(Group A, 40 eyes)and 3.0 mm standard incision(Group B, 40 eyes), respectively. The effective phacoemulsification time and average ultrasound energy, corneal endothelial cell count, corneal edema, corneal astigmatism, postoperative visual acuity and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: Effective phacoemulsification time of Group A and Group B was 8.18±11.22s and 7.82±2.12s, respectively, and the difference had no statistical significance(P>0.05); average ultrasonic energy was(17.25±4.22)% and(17.64±4.27)%, respectively, and the difference was not statistical significance(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in endothelial cells between the two groups of corneal endothelial cells at 1wk after surgery compared with that before operation(P>0.05). On the first day after surgery, corneal edema was observed in some patients. There were 9 eyes in Group A, 6 eyes in Group B, corneal edema relief or subsidence after 3d to 5d. There was significant difference in corneal astigmatism change between the two groups at 1wk(P<0.05), but there was no significant difference at 1 and 3mo after operation(P>0.05). The changes of corneal astigmatism before and after operation in Group A were insignificant(P>0.05), while the changes of corneal astigmatism before and after operation in Group B were significantly different(P<0.05). At 1 and 3mo after operation, the astigmatism of each group tended to be stable, and the corneal astigmatism in the two groups after 1 and 3mo had no statistical significant difference(P>0.05). The uncorrected visual acuity(UCVA)differences of the two groups was statistically significant at 1d, 1wk and 1mo after operation(P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups in UCVA after 3mo(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: For soft or medium-hard nucleus cataract, compared with the traditional 3.0mm small-incision coaxial phacoemulsification, the 2.2mm micro-incision coaxial phacoemulsification can effectively reduce the surgically induced astigmatism, and the astigmatism state is relatively stable, and conducive to early recovery of visual acuity.