SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM EFFECT OF CLEAR CORNEAL INCISIONS ON INTRAOCULAR-PRESSURE

Purpose: To evaluate short- and long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) a fter cataract surgery using clear corneal incision to assess whether t here is a statistically significant postoperative IOP decrease. Settin g: Advanced Vision Care, West Hills, California. Methods: We retrospec tively 135 eyes of 89 randomly selected patients who had scleral tunne l or clear corneal cataract surgery with a follow-up of at least 6 mon ths. Patients with pre-existing glaucoma were excluded. Results: In th e clear corneal group (n = 84), mean IOP was statistically significant ly lower (P =.019) 12 months after surgery than preoperatively (13.65 versus 15.57 mm Hg). Although there was a trend toward decreased IOP i n the scleral tunnel incision group (n = 51), the difference was not s tatistically significant (P =.178). Conclusion: We found a trend towar d lower IOP that, if permanent, raises serious implications about the necessity of combined procedures in patients with both glaucoma and ca taract.