Background/Aim. Cataract surgery has become one of the safest procedures in
medicine thanks to advances in technology and surgical techniques. Although
minimal, we still witness different complications. The aim of this study was
to compare visual outcome and complication rate in different techniques of
cataract surgery, ie in cataract surgeries with various corneal incision
width. Methods. The study included 3,457 consecutive patients, ie 4,670 eyes
that had undergone cataract surgery. The used surgical techniques were:
extracapsular cataract extraction, phacoemulsification/ forceps IOL
implantation, phacoemulsification/ injector IOL implantation, microincision
cataract surgery (MICS). Patient follow up was 6 months. Patients were
evaluated for: visual aquity, corneal astigmatism, cellular reaction in the
anterior chamber, IOL position. Results. Uncorrected visual aquity 30 days
postoperatively was ? 0.5 in 30% of the eyes - ECCE; 54.7% of the eyes -
phacoemulsification/forceps IOL implantation; 63.0% of the eyes -
phacoemulsification/injector IOL implantation; 5/8 of the eyes - MICS.
Endophthalmitis was detected in 0.15% of the eyes - ECCE and 0.1% of the
eyes - phacoemulsification/forceps IOL implantation. In eyes with
phacoemulsification/injector IOL implantation or microincision cataract
surgery (MICS) there were no cases of endophthalmitis. After a 6-month
period intraocular lens were dislocated in 7.2% of the eyes - ECCE, and 0.6%
of the eyes - phacoemulsification/PMMA IOL. There was no IOL dislocation in
other surgical techniques. Conclusion. Shorter corneal incision implies less
complications, less operative trauma, faster visual rehabilitation and
better visual outcome.