Clinical outcomes using standard phacoemulsification and femtosecond laser-assisted surgery with toric intraocular lenses

PURPOSE: To compare the 1-month and 1-year results of toric intraocular lens (IOL) implantation with standard (manual) phacoemulsification vs femtosecond laser-assisted surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Refractive data, visual acuity data, and ocular aberration measured with a wavefront aberrometer were collected for two groups of patients from one site. The first group had standard phacoemulsification, while the second group had femtosecond laser-assisted surgery, and both groups were implanted with toric IOLs, either monofocal or multifocal. Differences in visual acuity, refractive outcomes, and higher order aberrations – total, corneal, and internal – were evaluated at 1 month and 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: Toric IOLs were implanted in 62 eyes using standard phacoemulsification and 53 eyes using femtosecond laser-assisted surgery. Uncorrected visual acuity and best-spectacle-corrected visual acuity at 1 month and 1 year were not statistically significantly different between the groups (P>0.05) nor was the mean cylinder or mean spherical equivalent refraction (P>0.12). Total ocular higher order aberrations were significantly different between the groups (P<0.05), but absolute differences appeared to be the same. Internal vertical coma was significantly lower in the femto group at 1 year (P=0.03). Differences in aberrations did not correlate with corrected or uncorrected visual acuity. CONCLUSION: Patients who underwent uncomplicated lens surgery with toric IOLs in both the groups had comparable refractive outcomes in terms of visual acuity and residual refraction at 1 year. The femto group had significantly lower internal vertical coma at 1 year.