Comparison of Astigmatism Correction using Either Peripheral Corneal Relaxing Incisions or Toric Intraocular Lenses

Purpose To compare the efficacy and short-term stability of toric intraocular lenses (tIOL) and peripheral cornea relaxing incisions (PCRI) during phacoemulsification. Methods Patients with preexisting corneal astigmatism had cataract surgery either with tIOL (AcrySof Toric) (39 eyes of 35 patients) or standard intraocular lens (AcrySof) + PCRIs (38 eyes of 33 patients). Patients were retrospectively evaluated for manifest refraction, corneal topography, and uncorrected and corrected visual acuities preoperatively and at postoperative 1 and 6 months. The Alpins vectorial method was used to analyze the target induced astigmatism (TIA) and surgically induced astigmatism (SIA), magnitude of error (the difference between the magnitude of SIA and TIA) (ME), and correction index. Results Mean preoperative corneal astigmatism was 2.21 ± 1.32 D in the tIOL group and 2.24 ± 0.96 D in the PCRI group; the difference was not significant. The decrease in astigmatism was significant in both groups at last follow-up (64% tIOL group, 32% PCRI group, p