Effect of depth of the sclerocorneal incision on postoperative corneal astigmatism in manual small-incision cataract surgery.

Purpose: To determine the effect of depth of scleral tunnel incision measured by anterior segment OCT on postoperative corneal astigmatism by comparing the change of magnitude of corneal astigmatism between superficial and deep sclerocorneal tunnel incision in manual small-incision cataract surgery (SICS).

Methods: Depths of sclerocorneal incision of 72 eyes of patients undergoing uncomplicated manual SICS and attending regular follow-up schedule were assessed with anterior segment OCT at 6-week post-op follow-up.

Results: The overall mean ± standard deviation (SD) change of astigmatism for superficial incision, that is, ≤399 μm, was 0.