Outcome Following Phacoemulsification Versus Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS)

Comparison of Phacoemulsification Versus Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS) : A Randomized Control Trial

Hypothesis :

Phacoemulsification is superior to SICS with regards to:

• Immediate unaided high and low contrast visual performance
• Its impact on quality of life.

Phacoemulsification procedure

• Infiniti Vision System with Software 2.03 or higher, OZil handpiece (HP)
• Anaesthesia: topical
• Incision: temporal clear corneal 2.2 mm single plane
• CCC and hydrodissection, sculpting and division using step by step chop in situ and lateral separation, I/A.
• Single-piece AcrySof IOL (SN60WF) in the bag

SICS procedure

• Anaesthesia: peribulbar
• Incision: superior scleral tunnel 6.5 to 7 mm
• CCC and hydrodissection
• Nuclear expression: blumenthal technique using anterior chamber maintainer, manual cortical clean-up
• Single-piece PMMA (MZ60BD) in the bag

Inclusion Criteria:

• Prospective subjects should be diagnosed with senile cataract. Subject must require extraction of cataract in one eye followed by implantation of an AcrySof (SN60WF) or PMMA (MZ60BD) posterior chamber intraocular lens.
• Pupil dilation equal or greater to 7 mm after mydriasis.
• Patients undergoing cataract surgery for the first eye.
• Visual prognosis equal or greater to 6/12.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with history of ocular pathology, glaucoma, uveitis, high myopia, PEX, or corneal pathology.
• Patients with traumatic, subluxated and posterior polar cataract.
• Patients who had previously ocular surgery in the past 6 months prior to the screening visit.
• Patients with diabetic retinopathy.
• Patients who are not suitable for follow-up visits.
• Patients with Fuchs' Dystrophy, Macular Degeneration, Ocular Surface Disease that will interfere with normal recovery.
• Any patients with significant intra-operative complications will be removed from the overall analysis of the results. All patient data should still be recorded, even if from the "excluded" patient group.