Comparison of visual recovery and refractive stability between femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and standard phacoemulsification: six-month follow-up.

Purpose: To compare visual recovery and refractive changes between femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and standard cataract surgery.

Setting: Center for Vision Science, Ruhr University Eye Clinic, Bochum, Germany.

Design: Prospective randomized intraindividual cohort study.

Methods: Eyes were treated with femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery or conventional phacoemulsification using pulsed ultrasound energy. Both groups had intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. The manifest refraction, corrected distance visual acuity, and anterior chamber depth were determined preoperatively and 2 hours, 3 to 4 days, 1 week, and 1, 2, 3, and 6 months postoperatively to determine the achieved deviation from target refraction, IOL position, and refractive stability.

Results: One hundred eyes of 100 patients were treated with femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery; the fellow 100 eyes had conventional phacoemulsification. Six months postoperatively, 196 eyes were included and analyzed. At 6 months, 90 eyes (92%) in the femtosecond laser-assisted group and 70 eyes (71%) in the conventional group were within ±0.50 D of the target refractive outcome and 98 eyes (100%) in both groups were within ±1.00 D. The mean refractive spherical equivalent showed no significant change between 1 week and 1 month in the femtosecond laser-assisted group and between 1, 2, 3, and 6 months postoperatively in both groups.

Conclusion: Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery yielded faster visual recovery, less deviation from the target refraction, and earlier stabilization of refraction.

Financial Disclosure: Dr. Dick is a member of the medical advisory board of Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. No other author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.