Astigmatism after phacoemulsification and aspiration procedures: BENT versus standard incisions.

We examined the induction and spontaneous regression of corneal astigmatism among 1,023 phacoemulsification and aspiration (PEA) cataract surgeries performed with standard (n = 831) and BENT incisions (n = 192). The BENT (between 9 and 12 o'clock) incision is a method of entering the anterior chamber from the oblique side. In the BENT group, the degree of astigmatism was not significantly different from the standard group, 3 months postoperatively (1.48 +/- 0.07 vs. 1.25 +/- 0.04 dptr.) and 6 months postoperatively (1.30 +/- 0.06 vs. 1.28 +/- 1.28 +/- 0.06 dptr.). However, 1 week and 1 month postoperatively, the astigmatism resulting from the BENT incision was much less than that of the standard PEA incision (1.69 +/- 0.17 vs. 2.96 +/- 0.05 and 1.60 +/- 0.08 vs. 1.80 +/- 0.05 dptr, respectively). Visual acuity also improved faster. The BENT procedure is recommended, because it is a simple way to lessen astigmatism.