Corneal topography after cataract surgery using a clear corneal incision closed with one radial suture

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine whether corneal topography and visual recovery are affected by suturing a temporal, clear corneal incision for cataract surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-one consecutive phacoemulsification patients (39 eyes) had a 3.2-mm incision sutured with one 10-0 nylon, radial suture removed after 1 postoperative week. Visual acuity (VA) and corneal topography, including best fit: sphere (BFS), best fit cylinder (BFC), principle meridian, topographic irregularity (TI), and vector-corrected astigmatism (VCA), were measured preoperatively and I day, I week, and 1 month postoperatively. Two-tailed t tests and Pearson correlations were calculated. RESULTS: From the preoperative measurement to 1 week. postoperatively, VA improved, BFS (P=.005) and TI (P=.033) increased, and VCA shifted with-the-rule. From 1 week to 1 month postoperatively, BFS (P=.012) and TT (P=.002) decreased. BFC and its direction did not change. Almost all measures were significantly correlated. CONCLUSION: The benefits of sutureless surgery on corneal topography and visual recovery are not degraded by using a suture to prevent wound leakage.