AIM: To investigate the effect of coaxial micro-incision phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens(IOL)implantation on visual acuity recovery and safety in patients with age-related cataract.

METHODS:A total of 98 patients(98 eyes)with age-related cataract in our hospital from December 2022 to December 2023 were selected. According to the different surgical methods, they were divided into control group and observation group, with 49 cases(49 eyes)in each group. The control group was treated with 3.0 mm standard incision phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation, and the observation group was treated with 2.2 mm coaxial micro-incision phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation. The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), corneal astigmatism and corneal endothelial cell indexes were compared between the two groups before and after surgery. The occurrence of postoperative complications was counted to evaluate the safety of the treatment.

RESULTS: The BCVA(LogMAR)of the two groups decreased at 1 d, 1 wk, 1 and 3 mo after surgery(P<0.05), and the BVCA of the observation group was better than that of the control group at 1 d, 1 wk, 1, and 3 mo after surgery(P<0.05). Compared with pre-operation, the corneal astigmatism of the two groups increased at 1 d, 1 wk and 1 mo after operation(P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between the two groups in corneal astigmatism at 3 mo after surgery(P>0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in corneal astigmatism at 3 mo after operation(P>0.05). Compared with the preoperative values, the corneal endothelial cell density and hexagonal cell proportion were significantly decreased, and the coefficient of variation of corneal endothelial cells was increased in the two groups at 3 mo after surgery(P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups in the above indexes after surgery(P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the two groups was 8%(4/49)and 4%(2/49), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Coaxial micro-incision phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation can improve the BCVA of age-related cataract patients, and reduce the influence of corneal astigmatism, which is relatively safe.