Comparison of decentration, tilt and lenticular astigmatism of ıntraocular lens between sutured and sutureless scleral fixation techniques.

PURPOSE: To evaluate at six months the intraocular lens (IOL) decentration, tilt and lenticular astigmatism between foldable sutured and sutureless scleral fixation IOLs compared to conventional phacoemulsification surgery.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed records for 22 eyes with sutureless scleral fixation, 16 eyes with sutured scleral fixation and 23 eyes with conventional phacoemulsification. IOL decentration and angle of IOL tilt were compared on Scheimpflug images 6 months after surgery. Lenticular astigmatism is described as the difference between refractive and net corneal astigmatism.

RESULTS

The angle of tilt in both meridians was significantly lower in the sutureless group than in the sutured group (P=0.008 horizontally and P=0.002 vertically). IOL decentration did not show a significant difference between the three groups in either horizontal or vertical meridians (P˃0.05). Lenticular astigmatism was significantly lower in the sutureless and control groups than in the sutured group (P=0.003 and P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

In addition to being relatively quick and easy to perform, the sutureless scleral fixation technique showed superior results in terms of IOL tilt and lenticular astigmatism at the six-month follow-up compared to the sutured technique.