Comparison of the effectiveness of different corneal curvature measurement methods for IOL implantation in traumatic aphakic eyes with corneal injury

To assess the refractive outcomes of secondary intraocular lenses (IOL) in patients with traumatic aphakic eyes with corneal penetrating injury and compare different corneal curvature measurement methods.

Patients with unilateral penetrating eye injuries underwent corneal wound repair and cataract extraction, followed by secondary IOL implantation. Corneal curvature measurements were taken on the contralateral healthy eye (Group A), from the affected eye before removing corneal sutures (Group B), or after suture removal (Group C). The refractive outcomes were compared among the three groups.

The study included 261 eyes. The Mean Absolute Error (MAE) in Group C (0.99 ± 0.85 D) was significantly smaller than that in Group A (1.87 ± 1.71 D) and Group B (1.37 ± 1.20 D) (both P < 0.001). Moreover, the percentage of eyes with IOL prediction errors within ± 0.50 D in Group C (40%) was higher than that in group A (21.7%) (OR = 2.364, 95%CI: 1.272–4.392, P = 0.006) and group B (28.0%) (OR = 1.714, 95%CI: 0.948–3.099, P = 0.073), and the percentage of eyes with IOL prediction errors within ± 1.0 D in Group C (90.9%) was higher than that in group A (67.9%) (OR = 4.758, 95%CI: 2.131–10.626, P < 0.001) and group B (75.0%) (OR = 3.370, 95%CI: 1.483–7.660, P = 0.003) as well.

In traumatic aphakic eyes with corneal sutures, IOL power calculation based on the corneal curvature of the injured eye after removing the corneal sutures yields the best refractive outcomes.